858: 'A truth which cried out loud' - the families still seeking justice for the 'false positives' murders

This week, Colombia’s special peace tribunal, the JEP, handed down its first sentences to the soldiers who murdered and framed civilians to boost military statistics – killings which came to be known as the ‘false positives.’

 

The court has ordered those who committed atrocities to work on community projects, to build works in the territories where they left scars, and to face the communities whose rights they violated, as agreed in the 2016 Peace Accord. I’ll be explaining the ruling in this week’s Colombia Briefing along with this week’s other headlines.

 

To mark this historic ruling, this week’s episode will be an extended and updated audio version of Emily Hart's investigation into those war crimes and the families still seeking justice – an article first published in DG Magazine - read by the author herself.

 

During Colombia’s civil conflict, the army murdered thousands of civilians - framing them as guerrillas and criminals to boost statistics. In exchange for ‘combat kills,’ soldiers received cash, holidays, and promotions. The official number is 6,402 – though many estimate that the real number is closer to 10,000.