A FARC guerrilla was sentenced Wednesday to 48 years in prison for the murder of four Awa indigenous people in southern Colombia in early 2009.
Omar Herrera alias “Marcolino” –himself an indigenous Colombian– was found guilty of the aggravated homicide of four members of the Awa tribe, although his prosecutors said that many more were killed in the attack. Prosecutors said that the victims were tied up, tortured and killed with a knife. The attack occurred in the Nariño department near the border with Ecuador.
In 2009 the Awa suffered many murders reportedly commited by the FARC, drug traffickers, and paramilitaries. That same year a Colombian military officer was arrested on charges of killing Awa members and dressing them in FARC uniforms.
The Awa live on either side of the Colombia-Ecuador border and number more than 30,000.
