Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office on Wednesday ordered the arrest of ten and charged another six for the alleged extrajudicial killing of civilians.
A human rights prosecutor ordered the arrest of 10 soldiers over the murder of a civilian in the department of Casanare in 2007 and a further six soldiers were charged over a similar incident in 2004, in the Antioquia department.
In the first incident, the soldiers are being investigated for the murder of a protected person, kidnapping and false testimony over the murder of a civilian on June 8, 2007 in Sabana de la Sierra, rural area of the town of Villanueva, central Casanare.
In the second case, one officer and five soldiers were charged for their alleged involvement of an unidentified young man in the rural area of Yarumal, in the northwest department Antioquia on October 15, 2004.
These cases are part of a practice known as “false positive”, and involve the killing of civilians by military personnel who present them as rebels to show results to their superiors and receive benefits such as days off.
More than 2,000 similar “false positive” cases are being investigated by judicial authorities, with around five hundred military linked to the incidents.