Two of the FARC’s leaders were charged Tuesday for the forced recruitment of minors by their guerrilla group.
Human right prosecutors charged Rodrigo Londoño Echeverry, alias “Timochenko” and Luciano Marin Arango, alias “Ivan Marquez” with being the masterminds behind the alleged forced recruitment.
This charge is based on a July 2006 testimony from two underage demobilized guerrillas in Medellin. The two young men said they were part of the fifth and 18th fronts of the FARC and that between January and April 2005 they were trained in firearms and explosives, as well as saw combat in the department of Antioquia.
The prosecutor also officially ended the cases against the now deceased former FARC leaders Guillermo Saenz Vargas, alias “Alfonso Cano,” and Victor Suarez, alias “Mono Jojoy.”
The FARC, Colombia’s largest and oldest insurgency group, has been widely condemned for the use of child soldiers. Timochenko is the group’s supreme leader, while Ivan Marquez is considered the guerrillas’ number two.