Defense
Minister Juan Manuel Santos acknowledged that there may be more new
cases of ‘false positives’ committed by members of the security
forces than the one he admitted to Monday.
He called on social organizations and citizens to report any more cases in order to eradicate this illegal practice .
Speaking to Radio Caracol, Santos said the
Defense Ministry had investigated six allegations reported to the Center
for Research and Popular Education (Cinep) to determine if they were ‘false positives’ and if they
occurred before 30 October 2008.
Santos said that of the six cases, five occurred before October 29 and were mere allegations, not concretely proven cases.
“Only one of them turned out to
be after October 30 – i.e December 26 – the case that happened in
Cordoba and we have sent a committee to investigate,” Santos told Radio Caracol.
Santos added that the government is keen
to clarify all the circumstances surrounding the cases of ‘false
positives’ and report new developments.
Prior to the latest reported case, both Santos and President Alvaro Uribe had said repeatedly that there were no
more cases of ‘false positives’ after October 2008.
‘False positives’ is the name given to extrajudicial executions
of civilians by soldiers or police, who then report the victims as
rebels killed in combat, often for a financial reward.
To combat any future potential human rights abuses, the army announced that all armed forces will be under the supervision of a legal adviser for six months prior to combat.
