Eight soldiers are being held without bail for allegedly killing a couple and their 3-year-old daughter, and falsely reporting them as FARC guerrillas killed in combat.
On November 26, 2006, the soldiers, based in Garzon, Huila, reportedly fired on Daniel Alvarado Rivera, his wife Alba Luz Mejia, and their 3-year-old daughter, while the family was riding a motorbike.
According to the prosecution, the troops were conducting an ambush operation in the area and waiting for the FARC to pass through. They had orders to shoot only if they were attacked.
An attorney in the case established that there was no firefight as initially claimed by the soldiers, and that neither Rivera nor Mejia belonged to any illegal armed group.