Soldiers Kill Civilians In Cover-Up

The Columbian Army turned 15 soldiers over to civilian courts for prosecution for the murder of two civilian restaurant workers in Medellin in 2006.

Finally, the case has come to trial and the court has sentenced each of the soldiers to terms of from 4 to 30 years for murder.

The soldiers killed the two young workers and then claimed that they were “rebels” killed in combat by an infantry battalion.

An officer, three of his subordinates and six rank-and-file troops were found to have masterminded or taken part in the plot to kill the two young men and were sentenced to 30 years. Five other troops were found to have covered up details related to the case and were sentenced to four years in prison.

The case was one of a series of scandals in which authorities were accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings to claim successes in their fight against rebels. The Colombian authorities are investigating more than a thousand such murders.

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