Soldier detained for ‘false positive’ killing of marine

A human rights prosecutor detained a former soldier without bail for allegedly killing a marine and presenting him as a member of an illegal armed group, reports El Tiempo.

Deibis Brens David Burgos was detained Monday for the alleged false positive killing of marine Larry Jose Torres Peña, on December 24, 2006 in the municipality of Majagual in the northern Sucre department.

A former member of the Omega Joint Task Force — a unit compromised of personnel from the army, navy and air force — David Burgos is accused by the prosecution of committing homicide of protected persons, forced aggravated disappearance, destruction, removal or concealment of public documents along with embezzlement and weapons charges.

He is being held in a medium-security prison in Valledupar, the capital of the northeastern Cesar department.

Colombia’s military has been implicated in many cases of “false positive” killings, in which civilians were murdered by members of the armed forces and then presented as combatants killed in battle.

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