The “Mothers of Soacha,” a group which campaigns for victims of “false positives” murder of civilians by the army, accuse current President Juan Manuel Santos of “being involved” in the killings, reports El Espectador.
The group, made up of relatives of civilians killed by the Colombian army, said at a press conference in Salamanca, Spain that Santos’ position as defense minister when many of the killings occurred makes him responsible for the deaths.
The conference was organized by Amnesty International as a part of the European tour by the Mothers of Soacha to protest against killings, known as “false positives,” in which the army kill civilians and report them as rebels killed in combat in order to boost kill counts. Soacha is a region close to Bogota, where a number of young men were taken and murdered by the army in the most high-profile case of false positives killings.
The relatives operate under the slogan that “Extrajudicial executions are crimes of the state” and seek justice for their murdered relatives.
According to Amnesty International, the mothers have been threatened in an attempt to silence their campaign for justice, which will continue in Germany, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands and Denmark. Other relatives of the false positives in Soacha have also reported receiving threats.
Members of the army are currently on trial for the murders in Soacha.
