Friday 23 January 2009

Colombia Round-Up

The Latin Americanist notes that a Colombian general awaiting trial for the disappearance of 11 people in 1985 may hear his case in the military justice system, if a judge allows it. This is not a good idea; anyone who can give me an example of military courts processing human rights cases quickly, efficiently and fairly, go right ahead; but generally the opposite is the case. In Argentina for example, the military system procrastinated and stalled the trial of the junta until it was taken away from them.

Plan Colombia and Beyond mentions the alleged involvement of the Colombian army in skirmishes between the FARC and rival guerrilla group ELN in the Arauca region.

Meanwhile, a former mayor, Julio Cesar Ardila Torres, has been sentenced for the 2003 murder of a journalist who had publicised his connections to right-wing death squads.

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