Colombia’s war crimes tribunal ordered the detention of two governors and two governors for failing to cooperate with investigations into forced disappearances.
The court ordered the arrest and detention of Luis Fernando Velasquez, the governor of Caldas, and Clara Luz Roldan of Valle del Cauca.
The court also ordered the arrest of two mayors from the Caldas province for failing to cooperate with the transitional justice system.
Velasquez and the mayors of Riosucio and Supia failed to comply with a court order to team up with indigenous authorities in order to create commissions that would allow the possible location of victims of the San Lorenzo indigenous reserve.
Earlier this month, the JEP announced that its forensics investigation team had found the remains of 48 people inside the reserve that was a major corridor for illegal armed groups during the armed conflict.
According to the National Center for Historical Memory, indigenous communities from the region have reported more than 200 missing persons over the past decades.
Roldan will have to spend two days in police custody for her failure to cooperate with the JEP in ongoing investigations into forced disappearances in Valle del Cauca.
The JEP summoned the governor in November to evaluate the compliance with a court order to coordinate create memorial spaces for victims of forced displacement together with victims organizations.
The delegate sent by the governor failed to appear on the second day of hearings due to “back problems” that weren’t confirmed by a physician.
Roldan’s delegate will have to spend five days in prison for his failure to cooperate with justice.
The JEP has been investigating war crimes, including the forced disappearance of some 200,000 people, since 2018.
Earlier this month, the court ordered the detention of the Interior Minister’s human rights director, Franklin Castañeda, for his failure to protect a suspected mass grave in a cemetery in the northern Cesar province.