Identified 8 of the 11 people who died in the operation in Putumayo

Authorities in Putumayo reported that eight of the 11 people who died in the military operation carried out by the National Army on 28 March have been identified. The event was presented as an alleged coup against FARC dissidents in the municipality of Puerto Leguizamo; however, several social organizations and witnesses claimed that it was a massacre under the modality of false positives.

The situation was known through a complaint made by the National Organization of the Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC), which asked the Ministry of Defense to “clarify that the people killed were not guerrillas but civilians.”

The Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, remained in line with the first statement he gave to the media and assured that among the 11 people killed were nine suspected guerrillas who, allegedly, had been found “arsenal of war”. In turn, the official of Iván Duque's government said that the “operation was not against peasants, but farc dissidents. It was not against innocent indigenous people, but narcococaleros”.

The Ombudsman's Office, for its part, ended up confirming what OPIAC said and announced that the victims would include the president of the Community Action Board, Divier Hernández Rojas, his wife, a 16-year-old teenager and indigenous governor Pablo Panduro Coquinche. This same information was confirmed by researchers from the non-governmental organization, Human Rights Watch.

The entity of the Public Prosecutor's Office indicated that civilians should be left out of any type of action in the context of the conflict and that their right to life must always be protected. In addition, he asked the judicial authorities to clarify the facts promptly.

Likewise, the accounts given by the Colombian Executive were distorted by human rights organizations both in Putumayo and in Colombia. Even the United Nations (UN), and its representation in the country, issued pronouncements in this regard.

For this reason, the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation gave the Military Forces until April 1 to clarify what happened in Puerto Leguizamo. In turn, he asked them for a copy of the order of operations that supported the development of the military action and the operational report after the operation was carried out in the El Remanso village.

The current situation in Puerto Leguizamo

The Secretary of Government of Putumayo, Carlos Gerardo González, explained to El Espectador that the region has a serious drug trafficking problem and confirmed that 8 of the 11 deceased have already been identified.

“The custody of the eleven bodies was brought forward to be transferred to Puerto Asís and later to Mocoa,” the secretary confirmed. González also highlighted the psychosocial accompaniment being carried out and the respective funeral support for the families of the victims who have already been recognized.

The official commented that he has urged the Ministry of Defence and the Interior to establish a national security council. “In Puerto Leguizamo we are already coordinating with the specialized human rights department of the Prosecutor's Office a team of more than 18 technicians who arrived in the territory, accompanied by four specialized prosecutors and who will be in the area this Thursday or Friday,” González said.

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