400 members of Colombia's Armed Forces were taken to court over the past 18 months for their alleged involvement in the murder of civilians to present them as guerrillas killed in combat, the country's Prosecutor General Mario Iguaran said Saturday.
According to Caracol Radio, the number of investigations into 'false positives' almost doubled the past ten months. In June 2008 555 suspected cases of 'false positives' were investigated, while in April 2009 that number had risen to 1009. All investigations are against members of the armed forces who are suspected of extrajudicially executing civilians to increase the guerilla death toll.
1,137 members of the Armed Forces are currently under investigation. They are suspected of the murder on 1,666 civilians.
422 soldiers are in jail awaiting trial.
