Minister of Defense apologizes for extrajudicial executions of 23 victims in Cesar and La Guajira

In Valledupar it took place this Saturday the public act of forgiveness and recognition of responsibility for the extrajudicial execution of 23 people in Cesar and La Guajirafacts that were illegitimately presented as combat casualties. The event, ordered by court rulings, brought together the families of the victims, indigenous communities, national authorities and human rights organizations.

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During the ceremony, the Minister of Defense, Pedro Sánchez, stated that this day remembers that ethics must always guide the actions of the Public Force. “These events should never have happened. I apologize to the mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and the indigenous communities to which the 23 people who are not here today belonged.said.

He added that the murders were “illegal, reprehensible and criminal actions committed by former members of the Army,” who even simulated combats that never existed.

For his part, General Erik Rodríguez, commander in charge of the National Army, recognized that the acts committed between 2003 and 2008 were “reprehensible and barbaric.” He pointed out that These actions caused deep pain and represented a deviation from the constitutional duty to protect Colombians. “We apologize to the affected families,” he said.

Hosea Tomás Arias Martínez, one of the victims, stated that, for years, The families could not claim or mourn their loved ones, and that this recognition “represents dignity, relief and progress towards reconciliation.”

Denis Martínez, sister of Noemí Pacheco Zabata, a 13-year-old Wiwa indigenous girl who was murdered and falsely presented as a guerrilla, recalled with pain: “my sister was an innocent girl. They killed her while she was pregnant. We will never overcome this emptiness.”

This act complies with the sentences of the courts of Cesar, La Guajira and Cundinamarca, which They documented how members of the La Popa and Rondón battalions executed young people and indigenous people between 2004 and 2006, manipulating bodies and manufacturing operational results. Judicial decisions qualified these crimes as serious violations of Human Rights and, in several cases, as crimes against humanity.

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The victims recognized in this act were: Noemí Pacheco Zabata; Deivis de Jesús Pacheco Hernández; Carlos Alberto Vega Camacho; Javier Pushaina Pushaina; Luis Ángel Fince Ipuana; Gasparito Cambar Ramírez; Néstor Oñate Arias; Victor Hugo Maestre; Martín Villazón Ochoa; and Hermes Carrillo, among other people.