Forensic scientists have started to exhume dozens of bodies in connection with the "false positives" military scandal, Colombian officials said on Saturday.
"False positives" are civilians who were killed by Colombian soldiers and later presented as guerrillas. They were falsely identified as combatants so that soldiers could gain military decorations, promotions and other benefits.
"It is presumed that the remains of more than 50 people illegitimately presented as combatant casualties are in the cemetery of Dabeiba," said the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP). It noted that the exhumation process began earlier in the week.
The JEP was established as part of a peace accord between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that formally ended half a century of conflict in the South American country. Its mandate is to probe atrocities committed during the conflict.
The 'false positives' occurred during a brutal conflict between the military, paramilitary forces and leftist guerillas that spanned half a century (photo from 2005)
Bloody conflict
The JEP said an ex-army member had voluntarily indicated knowledge of "false positives" victims in the Dabeiba cemetery, which it then contrasted with other evidence.
Initial assessments indicate that the victims were men between the ages of 15 and 56. "Among those are people with disabilities," the JEP said.
In some cases, the military lured poor victims with promises of jobs in a fake recruitment process. The civilians were then transported to conflict areas, where they were killed, dressed in guerilla-style clothing and presented as combatants.
Read more: Colombia's shattered hopes of peace
More than 150 military officers have provided testimony about "false positives" to the JEP, with some cases dating as far back as 1988 and as recently as 2014.
According to Colombian prosecutors, roughly 5,000 cases involving "false positives" have been attributed to the armed forces. However, only low-ranking soldiers have been convicted.
"None of these crimes were ever investigated by the ordinary justice system," the JEP said.
The Dabeiba cemetery, where the exhumations are underway, is located in the administrative region of Antioquia, in Colombia's northwest.
Read more: Colombia struggles with the demons of peace
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Difficult path toward peace
The 2016 signing of the peace accord between the Colombian government and FARC rebels was a major, but not final, step towards ending the decades-long conflict. The deal remains a controversial topic in the country and took center stage during the presidential election.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Land owners vs. farmers
The conflict's origins date to the 1920s and a struggle over land ownership, which claimed thousands of lives. The 1948 murder of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan (photo), a liberal politician, threw the country into deep crisis. A result was the formation of a number of resistance groups; the Colombian army launched a campaign against "communist farmers."
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
FARC and ELN
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) were founded in 1964. The former wanted to break up the monopoly of land ownership, whereas the ELN formed out of a radical student movement and ideas of liberation theologians such as Camilo Torres (photo). The Colombian government fought both groups with the support the United States.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Paramilitary groups
The conflict deepened in the 1980s with the introduction of right-wing paramilitary groups in the service of the landowners against FARC. Both sides were closely linked to drug cartels. Four presidential candidates and countless left-wing politicians were murdered by paramilitaries between 1986 and 1990.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Ingrid Betancourt kidnapped
In February 2002, the government cut off peace negotiations with FARC after guerrillas hijacked a domestic flight. Days later, the rebels struck again, kidnapping presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. Alvaro Uribe went on to win the election that May and escalated military operations against FARC, ruling out further negotiations. He was re-elected in 2007. Betancourt was released in 2008.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Peace talks begin
Juan Manuel Santos was elected president in 2010. Two years later, a law concerning compensation for victims of violence and the return of land came into effect. Peace talks between the government (photo) and FARC officially began that November.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Ceasefire
At midnight on August 29, 2016, the permanent ceasefire came into force. "A new chapter in Colombia's history begins on August 29," Santos wrote on Twitter. "We have silenced the weapons. The war with FARC is over!"
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Peace deal with FARC
On September 26, 2016, President Santos and FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, a.k.a. Timochenko, signed the peace treaty, ending the 52-year-old conflict. The signing took place in Cartagena and was attended by 2,500 people.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Setback
Distrust in FARC manifested itself in a pre-referendum campaign against the peace treaty, led by the conservative ex-president Alvaro Uribe. To the surprise of many observers, a thin majority of Colombians voted to reject the deal on October 2, 2016.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Peace Prize for Santos
The international community threw its support behind the treaty's supporters. Just five days after it was rejected in a referendum, Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The ceremony took place in Oslo in December 2016.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Parliamentary ratification
Colombia's parliament ratified the peace treaty on November 30, 2016, following a list of changes to the deal's original language.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
Disarmament
FARC rebels gave up their weapons in three phases. On June 27, 2017, at the end of the UN-controlled disarmament process, Santos wrote: "For me and all Colombians, today is a special day. It's a day when weapons were exchanged for words."
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
The new FARC
The now disarmed, former rebel group chose to renew itself as a political party and disavow violence during a convention on August 27, 2017. The guerrilla's founder, Rodrigo Londono (photo), was elected the new party's head. He was unable to run for president, however, due to his poor health.
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Colombia's long struggle for peace
FARC at the polls
For the first time since the end of the armed conflict, FARC put up its members as candidates in the parliamentary election, which took place on March 11, 2018. The party received just 50,000 votes, but secured five seats in the senate and lower house of parliament, respectively, as guaranteed by the peace treaty. The conservative party of former President Uribe won the election.
Author: Emilia Rojas Sasse
ls/cmb (AP, EFE)
