Relatives of 185 people killed by paramilitaries in Puerto Nare, Antioquia, are facing the possibility that there is no one to be sentenced for the murders.
During a hearing conducted by the Justice and Peace Office against former paramilitary commander Ramón Isaza of Magdalena Medio, and other leaders of his gang, authorities concluded that 185 homicides committed between 1980 and 1994 in that area of Antioquia were not perpetrated by the paramilitary faction, but by the now-extinct paramilitary group of the assassinated Henry Perez.
Caracol Radio reports that according to the prosecution’s investigations, these people were murdered after being identified as guerrillas of the FARC and ELN, or as aiding these illegal armed groups.
Those chiefly responsible for the murders are all dead: Gonzalo ‘Ariel Otero’ Perez, his son Henry ‘La Policia’ Perrez, and Luis Antonio ‘El Zarco’ Meneses. Henry Perez was murdered in 1991, during a war with Pablo Escobar over possession of land in the Magdalena Medio for drug trafficking.
The families of the 185 people killed may receive compensation administrated by the state, but there is no one to be held accountable for the crimes.
Meanwhile, former paramilitary Ramón Isaza admitted to killing 91 people, while more than 100 other cases were transferred to other offices for other leaders of the AUC to respond to the allegations.