Humanitarian Commission that Visited Putumayo Says Army Operation Could Be a False Positive

After the operation of March 28, in the rural area of Puerto Leguizamo in the department of Putumayo, different speculations have arisen about the conduct of the National Army in this offensive action. Given this fact, a humanitarian commission that attended the scene would suspect that there are strong indications that this war action is related to a false military positive, since both the previous intelligence and the incursion into the site were premeditated, and the versions of the villagers show irregularities not exposed by them authorities when it came to justifying the entire operation, because in this case, the main protection of the Ministry of Defense, is that they sought to deal a heavy blow to the armed structures of the so-called Second Marquetalia.

As was able to establish Noticias Uno, the first human rights commission that arrived at the scene to carry out the data collection, received testimonies from the community that indicated that after the armed assault, some soldiers left a rifle and a vest next to the body of one of the deceased, to take several photos that would serve as evidence, in addition to this, it is important to bear in mind that after the attack, several affected people showed high concern regarding the presence of men dressed in black, who allegedly attacked the scene, under the complicity of the Army, as stated by the Public Question on last April 30, where sources reportedly confirmed that the hooded men were the ones who perpetuated the violent act.

In this fact, of the 11 bodies identified, 7 would belong to the community of the El Remanso village of the jurisdiction of Puerto Leguizamo.

The Coordinator of the Putumayo Human Rights Network, Yuri Quintero, explained that doubts arise as to how the community is approached, since it was surrounded and directly accused of belonging to an illegal armed group by the State, a situation that shows the desire to justify this operation.

Regarding his analysis, Quintero said: “that they have surrounded people, that they have outraged them, that they are all pointing them out of being part of an armed group; all these are signs of a State crime, of a false positive”.

The verification commission reportedly consulted some soldiers operating in the area, and despite not identifying themselves, they pointed out that this type of operation is carried out with the risk of side effects, because despite the fact that the main objective is the insurgency in this case alias' Bruno ', the incursion could trigger another type of However, due to the magnitude of this fact, different doubts arise in the light of the expected intelligence, since several victims left the operation, in addition to the fact that the information obtained by Noticias Caracol reveals that hours before the attack, there were children in the area.

Diana Sánchez, Director of the Organization Minga and Spokesperson Plataforma Colombia - Europe - USA, explained that the Army sought to manipulate this information through legal protection, since in this case, it indicated that the entire population involved in the place had to do with crime and was considered a military objective, since according to the information from the Ministry of Defense, those killed belonged directly to the armed group Segunda Marquetalia and were not peasants, as different versions point out, noting: “The Army is trying to turn it around and create a legal manipulation of international humanitarian law, to justify what happened, to say that all the population that was there was narco-coca growers, all guerrillas and had to be killed”.

One of the data that causes the most suspicion in the commission is the record of the death of the President of the Community Action Board, according to Yuri Quintero, everything would indicate that this attempt to hide when he heard the shots, however, after this, he is shot in the head and was identified as one of the wrongdoers belonging to the illegal group. In addition, some versions suggest that the bodies lying on the ground were manipulated and disguised as guerrillas to justify the attack, as happened with the indigenous governor Pablo Panduro Coquinche. The Director of the Minga Organization, Diana Sánchez, explained the situation: “It's like the governor, they take pictures of them already on the ground, dead, they put a vest and a rifle next to them, because there is already manipulation to pass them as guerrillas”.

Similarly, on the part of the commission, there is rejection of the process of gathering testimonies by the Office of the Prosecutor, since it would have questioned the inhabitants of the area about the events in the presence of soldiers, this fact could be considered as intimidating, since it was complex for the community to denounce with complete peace of mind everything that happened.

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