Five soldiers prosecuted for murdering farmer

Colombia’s Attorney General started disciplinary proceedings against
five soldiers who are suspected of having murdered a farmer to register
the victim as a killed drug trafficker.

The four are suspected to have killed Gustavo de Jesús Zuleta Cano after forcing him to leave the bus he had taken to go to work on July 24, 2006.

The militaries “may have engaged in a violation of human rights” the Attorney General’s office said.

Human rights organizations have frequently accused the Colombian army of killing civilians to make their military actions look more effective. The Prosecution is currently investigating the deaths of eleven young people from Bogotá and Soacha who ended up on the military’s ‘guerrillas killed in action’ list.