“Colombia’s most wanted FARC dissident killed in Venezuela”
Colombia’s election campaigns come to an end amid...
Francia Marquez
Colombia investigating attacks against media and journalists
Why State mafia allies threaten Colombia’s democracy
Colombia’s establishment candidate disappoints in election polls
Colombia’s far-right trying to postpone presidential elections
Colombia’s opposition embarks on anti-election fraud offensive
Establishment candidate in Colombia’s elections linked to mafia
Far-right group goes from opposing communism to opposing...
  • About
  • Support
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
Colombia News | Colombia Reports
  • News
    • General
    • Analysis
    • War and peace
    • Elections
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Sports
    • Science and Tech
  • Travel
    • General
    • Bogota
    • Medellin
    • Cali
    • Cartagena
    • Antioquia
    • Caribbean
    • Pacific
    • Coffee region
    • Amazon
    • Southwest Colombia
    • Northeast Colombia
    • Central Colombia
  • Data
    • Economy
    • Crime and security
    • War and peace
    • Development
    • Cities
    • Regions
    • Provinces
  • Profiles
    • Organized crime
    • Politics
    • Armed conflict
    • Economy
    • Sports
  • Lite
  • Opinion
News

Senator proposes law to protect military from prosecution

by Tom Heyden May 2, 2011

colombia news - roy barreras

Senator Roy Barreras, of the Partido de la U, is proposing a separate legal framework for the prosecution of military personnel suspected of criminal acts, Caracol Radio reported Sunday.

Barreras, a loyal supporter of former President Alvaro Uribe, is advocating a supplementary law that would provide a legal framework specifically for the military, which he suggested should be an amendment to the Victims Law that still awaits debate and passage in the Colombian Senate.

His suggestion appears to be fuelled by a perceived imbalance in the judgements against military personnel over the 1985 Palace of Justice siege, in which M-19 guerrillas occupied the building in Bogota before the military stormed and re-took it at the cost of over one hundred innocent lives, as well as the guerrillas themselves.

“We pardon the terrorists who seized the Palace and we condemn the military personnel to life imprisonment for the same event,” he said.

Retired General Jesus Armando Arias was condemned to 35 years in prison on last week for the forced disappearance of 11 people after their rescue from the sieged justice building.

“The country should prepare itself for the construction of a new law for the fighters,” the senator continued, adding that it should include the “special judicial status of legitimate combatants in the exercise of their military actions.”

The Victims Law has been the subject of partisan debate over the last few years, primarily between the Liberal Party and the Partido de la U, over the years to be covered by the law and whether it should include victims of state agents.

Hundreds of members of Colombia’s armed forces have been investigated for human rights violations.

human rightsjustice

Trending

  • Colombia’s far-right trying to postpone presidential elections

  • Establishment candidate in Colombia’s elections linked to mafia

  • Colombia’s establishment candidate disappoints in election polls

Related articles

  • Petro’s kill plot claims confirm Colombia’s failed security policy

  • Colombia claims organized protest equates to organized crime

  • Colombia’s commemorations of national strike largely peaceful

  • RSS

@2008-2019 - Colombia Reports. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by Digitale Zaken and Parrolabs


Back To Top