The House of Representatives sank this Wednesday the motion of censure against the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, who was summoned to a political debate for his responsibility in the military operation that on March 28 left 11 dead in the department of Putumayo.
(Details of the annulment of Molano’s appointment as Ministry of Defense).
With 116 votes against and just 28 in favor, the Chamber rejected the motion of censure against Molano, who manages to remain in office in his third call to appear for the alleged human rights violations. committed by the Armed Forces under his command.
Colombian President Iván Duque reported on March 28 that 11 FARC dissidents died in an operation by the Armed Forces in Puerto Leguízamo (Putumayo), in which four more people were detained, including a pregnant woman.
However, as the days went by, testimonies from relatives and members of the community came to light in journalistic investigations published in El Espectador, Revista Cambio, and Vorágine, confirming that some of the dead were not guerrillas from the dissidence of the FARC
OPPOSITION ARGUMENTS
During the debate on the motion of censure held last week, representative Katherine Miranda, of the Alianza Verde party, charged against Molano, who told her: “How many murdered men, women, pregnant women and children do you need on your resume for you to take responsibility and resign?”
The congresswoman reminded the minister that this was the third debate on the motion of censure for possible human rights violations and that, according to investigations, only one of the 11 people killed in the military operation was related to illegal activities.
NEW COMPLAINTS
On the other hand, and before the postponement for the second time of the debate on the motion of censure in the Senate, the opposition congressmen Iván Cepeda, Angélica Lozano and Antonio Sanguino announced in a press conference that they will denounce the Minister of Defense before the United Nations special rapporteur for executions of civilians committed by the Army under his leadership.
(Molano will continue to be Defense Minister: motion of censure is rejected).
Along these lines, they denounced new supposed cases of “false positives”, How are these executions known in the country?
The senators revealed a video in which soldiers are seen manipulating the corpse of a peasant leader who went out to protest against the military presence in an operation against deforestation in the department of Caquetá (south), something that can only be done by the Prosecutor’s Office that is the competent authority.
The community pointed out that the Army shot the peasant, identified as Julián Suárez, because he was supposedly armed, something that the community describes as false.
The other case occurred in the Caribbean department of Bolívar (north), whereAccording to the complainants, a 77-year-old peasant died in a military operation and was presented by the authorities as a member of the Clan del Golfo, the main criminal gang in the country.
The “false positives” are executions of civilians carried out by the military to inflate the figures of the fight against the guerrillas and obtain prizes and benefits, especially during the Government of Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010).
In February 2021, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) raised to 6,402 people who “were unlawfully killed to be presented as casualties in combat throughout the national territory between 2002 and 2008.”
EFE
