Ap, Europa Press and Reuters
La Jornada Newspaper
Saturday, November 23, 2024, p. 18
Bogota. Yesterday the US government announced sanctions against former Colombian general Mario Montoya Uribe for considering that there is credible evidence that he participated in cases of false positivesas the extrajudicial executions of civilians who were falsely presented as guerrillas killed in combat are known in Colombia.
The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony J. Blinken, indicated in a statement that the former soldier is being sanctioned for his involvement in serious human rights violations; With this decision, both Montoya Uribe and his immediate family members will be prohibited from entering that country.
Blinken reiterated his support for the 2016 agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and hopes to move towards peace durable in the South American nation that recognizes the needs of victims and survivors.
Montoya Uribe, who became an army commander, became in 2023 the highest-ranking former military officer to be charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity in the cases of false positives by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), a court created to judge crimes of the internal conflict as part of the peace agreement signed in 2016 between the State and the FARC.
Prosecutors announced in August 2021 that they would file charges against Montoya for his alleged responsibility in 104 murders committed between November 2007 and November 2008; a court later blocked the move.
The former military commander was also commander of the Colombian army between 2006 and 2008, a time when the army was fighting against the FARC rebels in the midst of an internal armed conflict that left more than 450,000 dead.
Montoya, who is free, denied the accusations against him in the past and resigned in November 2008 amid the accusations. In addition, he requested that the process against him be annulled due to alleged flaws in it.
The JEP is also investigating him and other former soldiers for their alleged links to 130 murders and forced disappearances committed between 2002 and 2003, when he commanded a brigade in Medellín.
The peace organization revealed that at least 6,402 people were murdered by military personnel and falsely presented as rebels between 2002 and 2008, during the two terms of former president Álvaro Uribe, but human rights groups assure that the number of victims could be older
The restriction was a request made by groups of Colombian victims to the embassy of that country, according to Sebastián Escobar, victims’ lawyer.