The number of extrajudicial executions of civilians committed by the military, also known as “false positives,” increased in 2010, according to a human rights organization.
The Centro de Investigacion Popular (CINEP), an NGO which advocates for human rights and development, released a report which detailed the false positive cases in 2010.
CINEP reported that there were 12 cases of false positives that resulted in 23 victims in 2010, an increase from seven cases and 16 victims in 2009. While they acknowledge that this is a significant drop from the worst era of the extrajudicial killings (2006-2008), during which 2,000 civilians were allegedly killed, the NGO believes that the increase in occurrences is a cause for alarm.
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The central department of Meta had the highest occurrence of false positives in 2010 with three. All the murders were carried out by Colombia’s Armed Forces and in two incidents, one occurring along Colombia’s border with Ecuador and another on the Venezuelan border, members of those countries’ national guards participated.
According to the report, there were 562 documented false positive cases and 1,119 victims between 2001 and 2010. “These victims have suffered different types of violations: 887 victims of extrajudicial executions, 87 victims of torture, 36 wounded, 41 victims of individual threats, 63 forced disappearances and 214 arbitrary detentions,” the report detailed.
The report also noted that the motives behind the murders have evolved beyond attributing the deaths as fallen guerrillas to inflate the military kill counts. It explained that “the alleged perpetrators no longer present the victims as members of guerrilla groups but as individuals associated with criminal gangs; on the other hand, there are some murders which are presented as operating errors by the security forces.”
The NGO provided recommendations to the Colombian government which include taking steps to properly recognize victims and their families. It also said that the government needs to do more to protect victims, witnesses, lawyers, victim advocates, and all human rights defenders. The organization echoed the U.N. request that the Colombian government transfers all extrajudicial execution trials from military courts to ordinary criminal courts.
CINEP called on other NGOs to continue doing their part by documenting cases of human rights violations. It also urged the international community to “continue to support policies and practices that promote the observance of human rights and international law in Colombia.”