Controversy between the Colombian Army and peasant organizations over the death of 11 people in a military operation

A whole media show has transpired in Colombia after the massacre that occurred in the El Remanso village, in Puerto Leguizamo (department of Putumayo). There, 11 people died, including civilians. However, the national Government assured that it was a blow against the FARC's dissidents, which caused the reaction of several human rights organizations, the presidential candidates, the Attorney General's Office and even President Iván Duque.

According to what was reported by Defense Minister Diego Molano, among the 11 dead there were nine alleged guerrillas who, supposedly, had been found “war arsenal”. Likewise, government official Duque said that the “operation was not against peasants, but farc dissidents. It was not against innocent indigenous people, but narcococaleros”.

These versions were severely criticized from various sectors, given that among the victims were the “president of the Community Action Board (Divier Hernández), his wife (Ana Sierra), a 16-year-old teenager, a governor of the indigenous people (Pablo Panduro), among others”, as announced by the Office of the Ombudsman .

Moreover, the same head of state pointed out, through his Twitter account, that his government neutralized the alleged criminals of the 48th front of the FARC dissidents, known as “Commandos de la Frontera”.

All these versions from the Colombian Executive were distorted by organizations in favor of human rights both in Putumayo and in Colombia. Moreover, even the United Nations (UN), and its representation in the country, issued pronouncements in this regard.

The inhabitants of that village report that members of the National Army arrived at a bazaar and allegedly opened fire on several of the participants of the event. However, the Government assures that there were allegedly members of armed groups and paramilitary groups there, whom they sought to “neutralize”, a term used to explain the dismissal.

For now, neither the Duque government nor the military forces have answered why, among the 11 confirmed deaths by the Office of the Ombudsman, are the president of the Community Action Board, the governor of the indigenous people and even a minor; facts that would distort the versions of the head of the Ministry of Defense. What is more, it confirms that they were not clear who they were going to cancel.

In the last few hours, a communiqué was released from the Cocalero Campesino Movement MOVICCAAP, in Putumayo, where the inhabitants of that village, where the massacre occurred, allegedly by the public forces, narrate several of the dark moments they faced when fire was opened on the community.

This text, released by the director of the MINGA Association, Diana Sánchez, assures that not only soldiers arrived at the scene, but also “men dressed in black” who had killed several civilians.

Once the Army helicopters reached El Remanso, the community says they thought they would defend them. However, they say that they saw that the mercenaries - who had rifles and long-range weapons - allegedly mounted the Colombian Army's helicopters and fled after leaving that bloody scene.

What is more, they say that there are more than 11 dead, since several of the culprits of the event have thrown other bodies into the waters of the Putumayo river.

The Putumayo Human Rights Network and the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (Opiac), as well as the UN Office for Human Rights in Colombia, and even from other State entities, demand that the national Government, as well as the Army, clarify these dark events that remind the the time of extrajudicial executions (false positives) that the country experienced years ago.

For its part, on the morning of this Thursday, March 31, the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, led by Margarita Cabello, asked the Army for prompt responses to the events that today are in the pursuit of the Putumayans and reminded them that “attacks against civilians are prohibited by International Humanitarian Law”.

Along these lines, the Public Ministry demanded that they attach the documents that support the military operation in which at least 11 citizens lost their lives, specifying the “report of deaths in progress of this military operation, wounded, recovered, demobilized, disengaged, subjected, seizures of war material ( ...)” , said the entity, which gave the Army until this Friday, April 1, to annex this information.

At the moment, new pronouncements are expected from the authorities, and from the national government itself, which has been refuted by the presidential candidate, Gustavo Petro. “It's not neutralization Mr. President Duque, it's murder. There were not 11 members of the FARC, they were peasants and indigenous civilians unarmed, including children. It's a war crime of your government. In my government there is a definitive end to false positives,” said the candidate for the Historical Pact.

Those comments caused the reaction of the Minister of Defense, who attached a video showing men in hoods, distorted the opposition leader's mob and called him a “liar”.

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