Colombian President Álvaro Uribe said Tuesday forensic evidence prove
the eleven people that disappeared from Bogotá and Soacha died in
actual clashes with armed forces and were not executed like reported
earlier.
According to the President, Chief Prosecutor Mario Iguarán and forensic experts established the men were not killed by bullets through the head.
Uribe added the men did not die within 48 hours after their disappearance, but roughly a month after. The men were killed in actual combat and were “not there to pick coffee”, he added.
Earlier reports by forensic experts said the men died shortly after their disappearances, raising the suspicion they were executed by the army to make their war against illegal armed groups more effective.
Last Friday, sources within the military did say a number of members of the armed forces were under investigation by the Military Criminal Court for the possible kidnapping and murder of the young people.