Prosecutors in the northeast of Colombia on Monday charged Salvatore Mancuso, the extradited former leader of the AUC paramilitary group, with 1,500 crimes including hundreds of alleged crimes against humanity.
Mancuso, currently imprisoned in the United States over drug trafficking, will have to respond in the Colombian city of Bucaramanga for cases including homicide, kidnapping, forced displacement, robbery, recruitment of minors, torture, conspiracy and sex offenses.
The crimes were allegedly committed by Mancuso and his subordinates in the north and northeast of Colombia between 1992 and his demobilization in 2004.
Mancuso, who assumed the leadership of the paramilitaries after the murder of AUC founder Carlos Castaño in 2004, had already admitted his responsibility in 300 homicides.
The former AUC leader was arrested in 2006 and extradited to the US in 2008 despite resistance by victims and human rights groups. The former paramilitary leader had been one of the paramilitary leaders who revealed ties to the group and politicians.
Bucaramanga, Santander
Sources
- Imputan cargos a Salvatore Mancuso por 1.500 delitos (Radio Santa Fe)