A Colombian court sentenced former paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso to 40 years in prison for 117 crimes committed by armed groups under his command against indigenous peoples of the Caribbean department of La Guajira between 2002 and 2006, the Attorney General's office reported on Monday. According to the ruling by the Chamber of Justice and Peace of the Barranquilla Superior Court, members of the so-called Counterinsurgency Wayuu Front, attached to the Northern Bloc of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), carried out homicides, forced disappearances, displacements, gender-based violence, and other illicit acts following guidelines defined by the group's leaders, including Mancuso. Mancuso, who was one of the main leaders of the AUC before their demobilization in 2006, commanded the paramilitary organization in the north of the country during the armed conflict and was extradited to the United States in 2008, where he served a 15-year sentence for drug trafficking. «The armed incursion is attributed to the Manaki ranch, located in Uribia (La Guajira)», the Attorney General stated, and added that in that attack, «several Wayuu indigenous people were beaten and mistreated for four hours and their symbolic cultural items such as hammocks, bags, hats, and embroidered blankets were destroyed and stolen». Furthermore, the high court held the group commanded by Mancuso responsible for the homicide of two indigenous people on March 17, 2002, in the Kepischon settlement, also in Uribia. According to the investigating entity, the AUC's Counterinsurgency Wayuu Front was created in March 2002, had about 150 members, and allowed the AUC to extend its armed operations to areas of La Guajira, in areas near the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. For these acts, Mancuso was sentenced to 40 years in prison, a fine equivalent to about 14 million dollars, and the inability to hold public office for the same period, although he can serve an alternative sentence of up to eight years in prison if he complies with the commitments of truth, reparation, and non-repetition provided for in the Law of Justice and Peace. Mancuso's Return The former paramilitary leader returned to Colombia in February of last year after completing his 15-year sentence in the United States, to answer before transitional justice for the crimes committed during his leadership of the AUC. His situation has gained special relevance in the public debate after, in November 2024, the government of President Gustavo Petro designated him as a peace manager along with other former paramilitary leaders, a figure that allows them to act as facilitators in demobilization and surrender processes of armed groups, without this implying judicial benefits. However, the designation was challenged before the Council of State by the People's Defender, which questioned the lack of controls and participation of victims, and warned that granting an institutional role to those responsible for crimes against humanity can affect confidence in the State as a guarantor of human rights.
