Former President Alvaro Uribe claimed Monday that a number of civilians who were murdered by soldiers and disguised as combatants, in what became known as the “false positive” scandal, were in fact criminals and drug dealers.
When asked about the scandal at a forum on international politics, Uribe said he had spoken privately to mothers of the victims at Soacha, where soldiers killed 11 men before planting weapons on them, and that “many of them” had confessed their sons were involved in “illegal activities”.
He added he had seen witness testimony in the United Nations offices that showed the so-called false positives occurred because of “the infiltration of drug trafficking my government was combating,” Caracol Radio reported.
According to the ex-president, the practice was nothing new but people began to denounce it thanks to his government.
“We created a space on television and radio for citizens to present complaints about human rights issues,” Uribe said.
