The investigations indicate that the actions of Gentil Duarte as a former leader of the FARC caused 11 acts of displacement between 2002 and 2004, which are linked to at least 60 victims who had to abandon their lands in the town of El Retorno, in southern Colombia.
The Attorney General of Colombia issued an arrest warrant against Miguel Botache Santillana, alias “Gentil Duarte”, one of the leaders of the dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
The guerrilla was accused of the crimes of deportation, expulsion, transfer or forced displacement of the civilian population, since the FARC operations under his orders caused, between 2002 and 2004, the forced displacement of at least 60 people.
The Prosecutor’s Office details that the guerrilla, as former head of the seventh front of the extinct FARC, would have promoted a “violent confrontation in the jurisdiction of El Retorno”, in the department of Guaviare, which caused constant armed confrontations and more illegal actions that endangered the lives of the residents of that community.
As a result, several inhabitants were forced to leave their land for fear of being killed, disappeared, recruited or even accused of supporting the Colombian authorities or another armed group, as well as the simple fact of disregarding the instructions of the FARC.
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The investigations indicate that these actions caused 11 acts of displacement between 2002 and 2004, which are linked to at least 60 victims who had to abandon their lands. Most of the victims were minors and older adults.
The arrest warrant was issued by a prosecutor from the Specialized Directorate against Human Rights Violations, since forced displacement is considered as such and international law watches over these situations.
Gentil Duarte is singled out with special emphasis by the Colombian authorities, since he is one of the FARC leaders included in the negotiation and pacification process of the armed group, who decided to abandon the truce and return to arms as a dissident.
Similar crimes have been caused by Colombian irregular groups on Venezuelan soil, thanks to the clashes that took place in the town of La Victoria, a border area of Apure state, which caused the displacement of some 5,000 people at the height of the conflict.
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