High Level Colombian Military Officials Arrested for False Positives

By Kaitlyn Degnan
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombian authorities have arrested a number of high ranking members of the Colombian military for involvement in the false positive killing scandal, including General Mario Montoya. Montoya is the former commander of the National Army. He is facing accusations of war crimes for his complicity in the “killing and promoting of killing of thousands of civilians.” He faces 40 years of imprisonment.

Colombians march during a 2009 protest against false positive killings. (Photo courtesy of the Guardian)

During his time as commander, the Colombian army is thought to have engaged in a number of extrajudicial killings – killing civilians and then reporting the deaths as paramilitary casualties. Troops were rewarded with bonuses and vacation days for high paramilitary body counts. At least 3,000 – 4,000 civilians are thought to have been killed between 2002 and 2008. Montoya was allegedly aware of the false positive killings, and failed to take any action or report it. 800 members of the Colombian security forces have been convicted of involvement in false positive killings, and hundreds more are still under investigation.

Montoya was detained on March 29 after being called for questioning by prosecutors. Prosecutors announced an intention to detain Montoya following the arrest of General Henry Torres for the deaths of a father and son, Daniel Torres Arciniegas (38) and Roque Julio Torres (16). They were killed in 2007 and reported as guerillas killed in battle in Casanare.  Torres was in charge of the military unit stationed there at the time of the killings.

Around the same time as the arrests, NGO Human Rights Watch released a report warning that the upcoming peace agreement between the Colombian government and FARC could provide impunity and allow perpetrators of false positive killings to escape justice. The cases would fall under the jurisdiction of the special peace tribunals. Under the upcoming peace agreement, those tried by the tribunals who confess will not face jail time and instead face a maximum sentence of eight years of labor.

Jose Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director at Human Rights Watch, has called the agreement “a checkmate against justice.”

 

For more information please see:

Colombia Reports – Colombia general arrested, former army chief called for interrogation over killing civilians – 28 March 2016

Colombia Reports – Colombia justice deal could grant soldiers impunity – 28 March 2016

Guardian – Colombia arrests army general decade after killing of civilians – 28 March 2016

Human Rights Watch – Colombia: FARC Pact Risks Impunity for ‘False-Positives’ – 28 March 2016

Human Rights Watch Analysis – Colombia: Prosecution of False Positive Cases under the Special Jurisdiction for Peace – 28 March 2016

Latin America News Dispatch – Human Rights Watch Warns of Impunity Concerning Colombia’s ‘False Positives’ – 28 March 2016

Voice of America – Colombia Arrests Army General for Extrajudicial Killings – 28 March 2016

Colombia Reports – Why Colombia’s former army chief is facing 40 years in prison – 29 March 2016 

 

Syria Deeply Weekly Update: Meet the Group Enabling Syria’s Female Journalists

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the weekly Syria Deeply newsletter. We’ve rounded up the most important stories and developments about Syria and the Syrians in order to bring you valuable news and analysis.

Meet the Group Enabling Syria’s Female Journalists

The Syrian Female Journalists’ Network is a non-profit initiative that trains Syrian female journalists and promotes their role in the region’s media. Syria Deeply spoke to co-founder Milia Eidmouni about the network’s work and its plans for women working in Syria’s media.

From Turkey to Europe – Q&A With a Smuggler

Who is behind the smuggling of refugees from Turkey to the Greek islands? How are these potentially deadly trips planned and organized? In the second installment of an ongoing investigation into dangerous routes to safety, Syria Deeply speaks with a people smuggler in Izmir.

Op-Ed: Five Years of Crisis, Five Million Syrian Refugees

The world must stop failing Syria’s refugees, writes Amnesty International’s head researcher on refugee and migrant rights in the lead up to the United Nations Refugee Agency’s March 30 conference centered on sharing responsibility for the refugee crisis globally. Five years of war have pushed nearly five million people to flee the country.

More Recent Stories to Look Out for at Syria Deeply:

#5YearsWeFled: Difficult Choices (Part 3)

My Life Outside Syria: Diary Entry 62

Op-Ed: In Syria, Maybe the Bridge is Best After All

Find our new reporting and analysis every weekday at www.syriadeeply.org.
You can reach our team with any comments or suggestions at info@newsdeeply.org.

Department of Defense Plans to Release Additional Prisoners

By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America and Oceania

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America — U.S. military officials from the Department of Defense have informed Congress that they plan to transfer about a dozen prisoners from the detention facility at the naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The first of the transfers are expected in the next few days and the others will take place in coming weeks, said one of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Patrol Underway Outside Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

Among them will be Tariq Ba Odah, a Yemeni man who has been on a long-term hunger strike.

At least two countries have agreed to accept the detainees, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss pending transfers. A Pentagon spokesperson, Commander Gary Ross, issued this statement: “The Administration is committed to reducing the detainee population and to closing the detention facility responsibly.”

There are now 91 prisoners at the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Most have been held without charge or trial for more than a decade, drawing international condemnation. According to Reuters, the Pentagon has notified Congress of its latest planned transfers from among the 37 detainees already cleared to be sent to their homelands or other countries.

U.S. officials have said they expect to move out all members of that group by this summer.

The best known of the detainees expected to be resettled in the coming weeks is Tariq Ba Odah, a Yemeni prisoner who has been undergoing a hunger strike in protest of his detention. That process includes guards strapping him down, putting a rubber tube down his nose and pumping a liquid dietary supplement into his stomach.

One of the issues in Odah’s case is the congressional ban on repatriations to Yemen, a country mired in an ongoing military conflict. The country is also considered a breeding ground for terrorists associated with organizations such as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

President Obama, who last month presented Congress with a blueprint for closing the prison, continues his attempt to make good on his long-time pledge before he leaves office in January. The plan for shuttering the facility calls for bringing the several dozen remaining prisoners to maximum-security prison in the United States. But U.S. law bars such transfers to the mainland, and President Obama has not ruled out doing so by use of executive action.

The Obama administration’s main effort to close the prison has been transferring low-risk prisoners to countries that can meet security conditions, with the rest to be taken to a different prison on domestic soil. But the fate of the plan is uncertain because of a statute banning the military from taking detainees from Guantánamo to the United States.

The Guantánamo facility has been criticized both in the United States and abroad as a symbol of human rights abuses for indefinitely holding prisoners without trial.

 

For more information, please see:

BBC News – US to transfer dozen Guantanamo inmates to at least two countries – 31 March 2016

Independent – Guantanamo Bay inmates to be transferred to other countries, US confirms – 31 March 2016

Voice of America – US Preparing to Transfer More Prisoners From Guantanamo Bay – 31 March 2016

NY Times – Pentagon Plans More Prisoner Transfers From Guantánamo – 30 March 2016

Reuters – Pentagon to send about a dozen Guantanamo inmates to other countries soon – 30 March 2016

The Hill – Pentagon to transfer group of detainees out of Gitmo in coming weeks: report – 30 March 2016

Washington Post – Hunger striker at Guantanamo Bay slated for transfer – 30 March 2016