Colombian Police arrested Rigoberto Garcia Restrepo, alias ‘Rigo’,
who Colombian authorities hold responsible for the 2002 FARC massacre in
Bojaya, Choco.
‘Rigo’ allegedly took part in the May 2, 2002 attack on the village that killed 119 civilians who were hiding in a church. FARC guerrillas, involved in combat with members of right-wing paramilitary organization AUC, fired a gas cilinder to the town that exploded in teh church where the victims were hiding. More than 40 children died in this attack.
“Ten terrorists, including alias ‘Rigo,’ who belonged to the FARC for
12 years and was responsible for the attacks on Vigia del Fuerte and
Bojaya, with hundreds of dead, were arrested in an intelligence
operation,” National Police Commissioner Oscar Naranjo told press Thursday.
A Choco judge ordered the Colombian State to pay a 1.5 billion peso compensation to relatives of the victims of the massacre. The judge ruled that authorities had ignored warnings of the local Ombudsman that the AUC was planning an attack and the civilians needed to be evacuated.
