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LATIN AMERICA |
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Ex-Warlord
Admits Guilt in Colombia Massacre
BOGOTA – The former commander of a
right-wing militia admitted to Colombian
prosecutors that he and his men killed 38
people nine years ago in the northern
village of El Salado, the Attorney General’s
Office said Tuesday.
Uber Enrique Banquez Martinez was a leader
of the Heroes of Montes de Maria, a unit in
the AUC militia federation, which formally
demobilized under an accord with President
Alvaro Uribe’s government.
The pact offers the paramilitaries the
prospect of reduced sentences provided they
fully cooperate with prosecutors and make
some kind of restitution to their numerous
victims.
Banquez confessed to the crimes of
aggravated homicide and forced displacement
in connection with the events in El Salado,
from where some 2,000 residents fled after
the massacre.
In May, he was sentenced to nearly 24 years
in prison for the January 2001 slayings of
27 people in the northern community of
Chengue.
AUC members have killed at least 21,000
people over the past 22 years, according to
a Colombian AG office report seen by Efe.
The document was produced by the AG’s
office’s Justice and Peace Unit, which is
responsible for gathering the statements of
the militiamen who demobilized in the
2003-2007 peace process.
Unit director Luis Gonzalez told Efe that as
of mid-June, “21,000 murders have been
confessed to by the paramilitaries. It’s
horrific.”
What lies ahead is even more “horrendous”
because many killings have still not been
confessed to, Gonzalez said.
In many instances, Colombia’s militias
carried out their atrocities with tacit
approval – or even active cooperation – from
officials and senior military officers. EFE |
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