Sergio Fajardo asks the Supreme Court for guarantees for the controversial operation in Putumayo

The former governor of Antioquia and presidential candidate for the Centro Esperanza Coalition, Sergio Fajardo, asked the Supreme Court of Justice to demand minimum guarantees of “independence and impartiality” from the Attorney General's Office in its investigation into the operation carried out by the public forces in Puerto Leguizamo, Putumayo, in which civilians were reportedly killed.

The former mayor of Medellín and candidate for the presidency of Colombia sent a letter to the magistrates of the high court in which he expresses his concern over these events, which have been denounced by the community and social organizations and whose irregularities were revealed by the media Vorágine, Cambio and El Espectador, in which would show the death of an indigenous authority, a child under 16 years of age and the chairman of the communal action board and his wife.

“The current attorney general of the nation was a trusted official of the current president, who is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. I come to you in your capacity as the highest level of the ordinary justice system and as electors of the prosecutor Francisco Barbosa to ask him for minimum guarantees of independence and impartiality in the conduct of the investigations into these very serious events,” said the presidential candidate of the center alliance.

In the letter, the candidate noted that the media reports left “many doubts” as to whether international humanitarian law standards were met in this operation against the dissidents of the demobilized FARC guerrillas, stating that justice will give the last word in the face of the facts that have been reported.

In this regard, he indicated that doubts remain regarding the conduct of the members of the security forces who participated in this operation in the village of Alto Remanso, where the community and organizations have indicated that it was a massacre or a case of 'false positives' and the actions of prosecutors who arrived four days after his execution the operation and were transported and accompanied by the uniformed in their work.

“According to the accounts of some witnesses, members of the security forces moved the lifeless bodies and modified the scene of the events. Members of the Army are also close to people in this area while investigators collect testimonies. In addition to doubts about the military operation, there are doubts about the impartiality in the area of investigation,” said the presidential candidate.

Finally, he asserted that the loss of trust in institutions is doing “immense damage to our democracy. In cases like this, institutional legitimacy is at stake”, a criticism that has been added to that made by other presidential candidates such as the leader of the opposition and aspirant for the Historical Pact, Gustavo Petro, who described the operation as a “war crime” and “murder” of indigenous people and peasants.

“The Minister of Defense called me a liar for criticizing his war crime against the population of Putumayo. In my government, honour will be the axis of the public force, merit will be the path of promotion and arms will defend freedoms and rights,” said the senator from the left.

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