The Colombian State acknowledged for the first time that it had responsibility for the murder of Carlos Pizarro Leongómez, who was a presidential candidate for the political force created as a result of the demobilization of the M-19 guerrilla movement, to which the current president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, belonged.
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“This is important news for the country,” wrote Colombian senator María José Pizarro, daughter of the victim, who attended the hearing on the case held at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Washington.
The director of the National Legal Defense Agency of the State (Andje) of Colombia, César Palomino Cortés, stated before the IACHR: that he is “proven that not only paramilitary groups, but also State agents are involved in the extrajudicial execution of Pizarro Leongómez; particularly, members of the defunct Administrative Department of Security, DAS, who among other things were responsible for their security.”.
Pizarro died on April 26, 1990 in a hospital due to the shots he received aboard a plane in which he was going to travel from Bogotá to Barranquilla. by a hitman, Gerardo Gutiérrez Uribe alias “Jerry”, who was in turn killed by the bodyguards of the then presidential candidate.
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At the hearing, the Colombian State also recognized the lack of legal guarantees. The process to find those responsible for the murder suffered delays that affected “the right to the truth of Mr. Pizarro’s relatives”indicated Palomino Cortés.
María José Pizarro
Ministry of Education
Colombia hopes that with this recognition of responsibility they can agree with Pizarro’s daughters and other relatives on other paths for their comprehensive reparation and the recovery of trust in the institutions.
María José Pizarro expressed her satisfaction with this recognition by the Colombian State, which comes “after 34 years of fighting against impunity.”
The State admits its responsibility “for the human rights violations caused to daughters, sons and other family members; to our right to identity and protection in times of war, as well as the right to peace and democracy in Colombia,” stressed the senator for the Historical Pact, the coalition that governs Colombia with Gustavo Petro at the helm.
“My father was not killed by the war or his past, he was killed by the future and the decision to bet on a presidential candidacy, after signing peace”he added.
During the hearing, Laura García, who was Carlos Pizarro’s partner, also spoke and asked “a reparation in every sense” for the families of leftists murdered extrajudicially in Colombia.
Rafael Barrios, from the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective (Cajar), emphasized that Pizarro’s last wish as a signatory of the agreement between the Government and the M-19 was for peace to become possible.
“Given the Colombian context, we ask the IACHR to take into account in its decision the effects that Pizarro’s murder had on a society that for decades has been striving to generate trust to build a stable and lasting peace for current and future generations. ”, he stated.
In 1985, the M-19 was the author of the Storming of the Palace of Justice of Bogotá, where it held nearly 350 hostages, including magistrates, state councillors, judicial officials, employees and visitors, which gave rise to a police and military operation to recover it.
More than a hundred people died and a dozen disappeared in the 28 hours that elapsed from the seizure to the recovery of the judicial headquarters. The IACHR is holding its 191st regular session in Washington, during which hearings are also scheduled for cases from El Salvador, Venezuela and Nicaragua. inter alia.
EFE
