By order of the Council of State, the nation must pay more than 2.9 billion pesos as reparation for the forced disappearance of several people during the Riosucio massacre, Chocó, in 1996.
There were about 150 men from the Peasant Self-Defense Forces of Córdoba and Urabá who entered the urban area and, according to reports from organizations such as the Popular Research and Education Center (Cinep), the paramilitaries managed to enter the municipality in complicity with the Police. of Quibdó and the XIII Brigade of the National Army.
In December 1996 in Riosucio (Chocó), six people were forcibly disappeared, tortured and murdered, including a minor and the then local leader of the municipality Benjamín Artemio Arboleda Chaverra, mayor of the municipality, and Robinson Martínez Moya.
A lawsuit filed before the Council of State ensures that the massacre had the complicity of the Police and the Army
The plaintiffs allege that, after the takeover of the municipality by armed groups on December 20, 1996, several people were disappeared, and they maintain that the public force, made up of the Police and the Army, allowed this armed attack.
The ruling of the Council of State mentions that “the public force would have allowed the armed attack, which led the 22nd Specialized Human Rights Prosecutor’s Office of Bogotá to carry out a criminal investigation against several members of the Police and the National Army.”
This case reached the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which ordered the case to be reviewed given the “serious” violations of human rights recorded.
During the lawsuit process, the Army rejected the accusations, arguing that the force had all the necessary tools to prevent the armed group’s incursion. The document states: “He stated that the failure in the service was not proven, since the public force had all the means at its disposal to counteract the insurgent action.”
For its part, the National Police disclaimed responsibility, arguing that it was an attack by an armed group, considered an event caused by a third party. The ruling mentions: “It stated that the alleged damage was due to the action of armed groups outside the law and not the National Police, which constituted the act of a third party.”
Despite the defenses of the public forces, the Council of State has imposed the million-dollar sentence on the Nation as reparation for the harm and damage to constitutional property caused by the disappearances in 1996. This ruling highlights the commitment of the authorities to guarantee the justice and reparation to victims of human rights violations.
The post Colombia is condemned for the massacre in Riosucio in 1996 appeared first on Chocó7días.com.