Paramilitary leaders ask to be returned to Colombia to take part in transitional justice
Source: Colombia Reports
Paramilitary leaders ask to be returned to Colombia to take part in transitional justice
written by Adriaan Alsema September 21, 2016
A number of extradited top leaders of now-demobilized paramilitary organization AUC sent a letter in which they call on Colombia to support a peace process with their former arch enemies, the leftist FARC rebel group.
The AUC fought against the FARC since its formation in 1997 until its demobilization between 2003 and 2006, colluding with top members of the military and the country’s political and economic elite.
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The remaining 16 commanders include “Ernesto Baez,” one of the main ideologists of the extreme-right group, and “Julian Bolivar” and “El Iguano” whose testimonies helped incarcerate numerous politicians who used the AUC’s death squads to intimidate voters and eliminate political competition.
Salvatore Mancuso, who was the commander-in-chief of the group after the murder of founder Carlos Castaño in 2014, did not sign the letter. Mancuso is expected to be released from his US prison in four years where he is serving 12 years for drug trafficking. In Colombia he has yet to respond to more than a 1,000 war crimes.
Read more: http://colombiareports.com/paramilitary-leaders-ask-returned-colombia-take-part-transitional-justice/
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