Petro reveals strategy to change Colombia’s socio-economic model
How Colombia’s judicial reform seeks to solve prison...
Colombia’s chief prosecutor says paramilitaries kidnapped, interrogated investigators
Colombia’s war crimes tribunal to press criminal charges...
Colombia jails US citizen on femicide charges
Colombia preparing tropical paradise for tourism after 500...
Hacktivists leak 178,000 documents from Colombia’s military
Colombia sentenced for exterminating political party
Colombia’s capital Bogota awarded for failing crime policy
OAS urges Colombia to release people arrested over...
  • About
  • Support
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
Colombia News | Colombia Reports
  • News
    • General
    • Analysis
    • War and peace
    • Elections
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Sports
    • Science and Tech
  • Travel
    • General
    • Bogota
    • Medellin
    • Cali
    • Cartagena
    • Antioquia
    • Caribbean
    • Pacific
    • Coffee region
    • Amazon
    • Southwest Colombia
    • Northeast Colombia
    • Central Colombia
  • Data
    • Economy
    • Crime and security
    • War and peace
    • Development
    • Cities
    • Regions
    • Provinces
  • Profiles
    • Organized crime
    • Politics
    • Armed conflict
    • Economy
    • Sports
  • Lite
  • Opinion
Colombia congressmen parapolitics
News

Former congressmen convicted over ties to death squads sue Colombia for damages: report

by Adriaan Alsema July 15, 2013
1.5k

Five former congressmen, all convicted for using death squads to intimidate voters, are suing the Colombian state, demanding compensation for their loss of reputation and income, newspaper El Tiempo reported Monday.

The lawmakers have all been convicted for “parapolitics,” a practice that became common during the 2002 and 2006 elections when dozens of aspiring lawmakers turned to paramilitary organization AUC to coerce voters into voting for political allies of the paramilitaries who by then had been deemed a terrorist organization by both the US and Europe.


Parapoliticians suing the state

  • Ciro Ramirez
  • Odin Sanchez
  • Luis Humberto Gomez
  • Miguel Pinedo
  • Luis Alberto Gil

According to El Tiempo, the politicians claim to have a right to compensation because their human rights were violated while on trial for their ties to death squads.

Two more “parapoliticians” are considering a similar lawsuit, reported the newspaper.

“They are citing the violation of human rights in Colombia and are asking for a moral and economic compensation of the Colombian state,” defense attorney Ricardo Cifuentes told El Tiempo.

According to the lawyer, the convicted lawmakers were not granted the right to due process as they were tried before the Supreme Court, the country’s highest tribunal, which stripped them of the possibility to appeal their verdict. Additionally, as Colombia’s Supreme Court carried out investigations of the lawmakers’ crimes itself, the court acted as both judge and prosecutor.

Former Supreme Court Justice Carlos Gaviria told El Tiempo the plaintiffs “may be right.”

“It may be so that the court is a very legitimate and reliable entity, the right to appeal is a necessity. I can’t anticipate what the Commission is going to say, but what I see in the lawsuit is reasonable,” said Gaviria.

The congressmen suing the state are five of 40 who were convicted to ties to paramilitary groups. Some 140 more former congressmen have pending investigations against them.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, more than 11,000 politicians, officials and businessmen are suspected of having made pacts with the AUC, which is held responsible for tens of thousands of human rights violations including homicide, torture, forced displacement and rape.

AUCciro ramirezIAHCRluis alberto gilLuis Humberto GomezOASOdin Sanchezparamilitariesparapolitics

Trending

  • Colombia jails US citizen on femicide charges

  • Colombia’s war crimes tribunal to press criminal charges over failed plot to extradite former FARC chief

  • Petro’s reveals strategy to change Colombia’s socio-economic model

For patrons

Downloads for patrons

Related articles

  • Colombia’s war crimes tribunal hears notorious former warlord

  • Colombia’s prosecution blocks talks to dismantle paramilitary groups

  • Colombia’s armed conflict moving to cities: report

  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Rss

@2008-2019 - Colombia Reports. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by Digitale Zaken and Parrolabs


Back To Top
Colombia News | Colombia Reports
  • News
    • General
    • Analysis
    • War and peace
    • Elections
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Sports
    • Science and Tech
  • Travel
    • General
    • Bogota
    • Medellin
    • Cali
    • Cartagena
    • Antioquia
    • Caribbean
    • Pacific
    • Coffee region
    • Amazon
    • Southwest Colombia
    • Northeast Colombia
    • Central Colombia
  • Data
    • Economy
    • Crime and security
    • War and peace
    • Development
    • Cities
    • Regions
    • Provinces
  • Profiles
    • Organized crime
    • Politics
    • Armed conflict
    • Economy
    • Sports
  • Lite
  • Opinion