The Medellin Board of Transitional Justice sentencing eight demobilized paramilitaries from the AUC’s Elmer Cardenas bloc to prison for over 130 crimes committed between 1996 and 2004, local media reported Tuesday.
The offenses referred to in the judgment include 51 murders, 21 aggravated kidnappings, 16 forced displacements, the torture of five protected persons, and five forced disappearances. The crimes include both the La Horqueta and Riosucio massacres, according to Colombia’s Caracol Radio.
On November 21, 1997, 14 civilians were killed in Colombia’s central state of Cundinamarca in attack allegedly executed by the combined forces of the defunct paramilitary group, the AUC, and special units of Colombia’s armed forces. In Riosucio, Choco, five people were abducted and murdered, including the mayor Benjamin Grove Chaverra.
Sentenced to eight years in prison:
- Elkin Jorge Castañeda Naranjo, aka “Hermogenes Maza” ex-head of AUC’s Dabeiba bloc
- Pablo José Montalvo Cuitiva, alias “Alfa 11” or “David”
- Dairon Mendoza Caraballo, alias “Roger” or “Cocacolo”
- Ephraim Homero Hernandez, alias “Armero”
- Juan Pablo Lopez Quintero, aka “Chimurro”
- Dario Enrique Vélez Trujillo, aka “Gabriel” or “Tio”
Sentenced to six years, seven months:
- Carlos Arturo Furnieles, alias “Saiza”
- Bernardo Diaz Alegre, alias “El Burro”
Medellin’s local Transitional Justice prosecutor is currently investigating 1,200 crimes, including those committed by Fredy Rendon Herrera, alias “El Aleman,” top leader of the Elmer Cardenas Bloc of the AUC, and 27 more members of the AUC.
MORE: Deputy Prosecutor stands between Colombia war criminals and their freedom
Sources
- Primer fallo de justicia transicional en Antioquia condena exparamilitares (Caracol Radio)
- Tribunal Superior de Medellín – Sala de Justicia y Paz Nº 4 Medellín, enero de 2014 (Medellin Supreme Court)
