COLOMBIA: Launching of report with data on crimes confessed by demobilized paramilitary in Colombia.
A report published by the Justice and Peace Unit of Colombia Prosecutor's Office released on January 1 discloses data on crimes confessed by demobilized paramilitaries. According to the report, paramilitaries ('paras') have confessed to a total of 39,546 crimes involving victims 51,906, 1046 massacres, 25,757 murders, 1,618 forced recruitments, 3,551 disappearances, 11,132 forced displacements, 1,168 extortions, 1,916 abductions, 96 rapes, 773 cases of torture and 65 drug trafficking cases. Likewise, the paramilitaries confessed to have had the complicity of 1,124 politicians, 1,023 military, 393 public servants and 10,329 people and demobilized. The report confirms that the so-called Law of Justice and Peace, is actually a cover-up for impunity and the legalization of a paramilitary strategy by the regime, conceived and materialized by the government of Alvaro Uribe Velez, according to data presented in the report. On the other hand, Hernán Giraldo, former paramilitary commander and former FARC leader could be tried for sex crimes committed by their subordinates, on Monday said Colombia's Deputy Prosecutor General. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, the former AUC commander Giraldo could be held responsible for thousands of sexual crimes committed against civilians during his time as commander of the AUC's "Tayrona Resistance Bloc."Giraldo demobilized in 2006 as a part of the Justice and Peace agreement with the Colombian government. He was extradited to the United States in 2008 on charges of drug trafficking. Meanwhile, Karina, a former leader of the FARC's 47th Front who surrendered in 2008, could be put on trial for ordering forced abortions.The Prosecutor General's Office said these and other commanders used sexual violence as an "organized and deliberate weapon of war." With regard to the peace process, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has stated it will follow the talks between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), as an observer. Radio Caracol has revealed that the Commission has expressed its desire to become an observer in the peace process and that the Colombian government has accepted. Radio Caracol has also informed that Humberto de la Calle, the government's chief negotiator will meet with the IACHR before travelling again to Havana to inform the Commission about the latest developments.(Colombia Report, 07/01/13 and EuropaPress, 28/01/13, notimundo2, enero 2013)