A man left the remains of his son, an army sergeant, on Bogota‘s central Bolivar square Sunday. The man claims his son was executed by colleagues in 2006 when he refused to kill civilians.
“I am here to protest the murder of my son by his fellow soldiers, who were annoyed with him because he wouldn’t take part in the murder of two civilians the army tried to present as guerrillas killed in combat,” Raul Carvajal told several radio reporters.
Apart from the death of his son, Carvajal accused the army of having disappeared the dead sergeant’s wife and child.
The man said he had taken his son from his grave in the northern town of Monteria to Bogota’s political epicenter to demand justice.
“I demand justice, that the case of my son does not remain unpunished and that those responsible are punished,” the man said.
According to French press agency AFP, the Colombian army refused to comment on the case.
Hundreds of members of Colombia’s armed forces are suspected of having killed civilians to make it appear that they had killed more members of illegal armed groups. Dozens of soldiers and policemen have been convicted for these “false positives.”