67 members of the Colombian security forces have been convicted for committing ‘false positives’. In the last three weeks alone, 46 members of the security forces were sent to jail for murdering civilians, weekly Semana reported Wednesday.
‘False positives’ is the name given to extrajudicial executions of civilians by soldiers or police, who then report the victims as rebels killed in combat, often for financial reward.
To date 426 members of the security forces have been detained on suspicion of ‘false positives’. Since 15 April around 1000 members of the security forces have been linked to ‘false positives’. 46 of those have been sent to jail.
In total, 67 soldiers were convicted for murdering civilians.
Colombian President Álvaro Uribe said Wedneday he wants the State to take up the legal defense of military personnel accused of ‘false positives’. The President claims that there are many false complaints and he wants to prevent that members of security forces are sent to jail unjustly.