Bogota, Nov 20 (EFE).- The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) this Thursday charged three retired generals and 27 other Colombian Army soldiers with war crimes and crimes against humanity for their responsibility in 209 murders and 65 forced disappearances that occurred in the Meta department (central region) between 2002 and 2007. Among those charged are Brigadier Generals Carlos Ovidio Saavedra Sáenz and Francisco José Ardila Uribe, as well as Major General Carlos Eduardo Ávila Beltrán, the JEP reported, a court created by the peace agreement signed by the Colombian government and the demobilized FARC guerrilla group. The JEP's Truth Recognition Chamber determined that during the process of paramilitary consolidation in Meta, "close relationships were formed between members of the National Army and the Centauros Block" of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). The accused were members of the Infantry Battalion No. 21 Pantano de Vargas (BIVAR), of the Seventh Brigade, and of the Rural Gaula Meta (GAMET), a unit in charge of fighting kidnapping and extortion. From their positions of power and command, they acted with laxity and permissiveness, without exercising the necessary control to prevent, investigate, and punish the deaths that were occurring. In the case of the other 27 retired military personnel who were part of BIVAR and Rural Gaula Meta, the chamber determined that they are co-authors of the crimes they are charged with, having acted under a common agreement that involved a division of criminal labor. The so-called "false positives" are one of the darkest episodes of the Colombian conflict, in which Army members disappeared and murdered innocent young people to pass them off as guerrilla casualties in order to obtain rewards and promotions. The JEP has counted 6,402 such cases, which were mainly committed between 2002 and 2010, during the presidency of Álvaro Uribe. Photo EFE The entry "Three Colombian generals and other military personnel are charged with war crimes in conflicts" was first published in La Verdad Panamá. EFE/ Carlos Ortega In the investigation, the Chamber listened to the testimonies of former commanders of the AUC's Centauros Block, including Dairo Antonio Úsuga, known as Otoniel; Manuel de Jesús Pirabán, alias Pirata; and Luis Arango, known as Chatarro. As part of Case 03, which investigates murders and forced disappearances presented illegitimately as combat casualties, the JEP explained that the retired generals were charged "as authors by improper omission, for the crime of forced disappearance as a crime against humanity, in conjunction with the war crime of homicide of a protected person and with the crime of murder as a crime against humanity." Saavedra and Ávila were also charged with the "aggravated homicide crime." The Truth Recognition Chamber emphasized that the retired generals "failed in their obligations to protect the legal goods of the population and to exercise effective control over their subordinates." Despite having reasonable measures at their disposal to do so, "they omitted their constitutional and functional duties."
