False positives: a retired army major will have to answer dozens of cases in Cordoba

The Recognition Room Special Jurisdiction for Peace – JEP quoted the retired army major Fernando Arias Fabien for his alleged responsibility in ten cases of false positives that were presented by the military Gaula in the department of Córdoba.

The now retired officer is believed to be involved in cases that took place in 2007. In that trial, he was charged with aggravated criminal association to commit a felony, aggravated homicide and ideological lie in a public document while serving as a lieutenant in the department.

It should be mentioned that the retired major was accused of alleged responsibility in the extrajudicial executions while working under the command of Major de Julio César Parga, who, in fact, mentioned him as one of the participants to events.

According to the information, Arias must appear at the premises of the JEP to testify in the event of false positives THURSDAY March 23, 2023a meeting at which the victims will also be present.

After the recognition room of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace – JEP you will find the general Justo Eliseo Pena As the alleged perpetrator of crimes within the denunciations put forward by victims’ organizations, he was ordered to make a voluntary version for cases between 2005 and 2007, when he was in office.

Peña, in his capacity as former commander of the First Army Division at that time in most Caribbean of Colombia, will have to answer “acts constituting assassinations and forced disappearances presented as victims of combat by agents of the State”, according to the JEP.

In fact, it has been learned that several appearing parties have already made statements regarding the general’s alleged responsibility, including retired Major Julio César Parga, former commander of Task Force Sucre, and Fabricio Cabrera Ortiz, also a general. Both have accepted their responsibility in false positives in which dozens of cases have been recorded.

General Peña will be able to access the reports submitted by victims’ organizations such as the Collectif José Alvear Restrepo, the Solidarity Committee of Political Prisoners – CSPP, among others, in addition to those written by the pursuit and statements made by the two subordinates. However, you must sign an act in which you undertake to maintain the confidentiality of the information and, in this way, to attend the summons established for the April 17, 2023.

On the other hand, Peña has also been linked to another situation of violence in the country, the recapture of the Palace of Justice, an event that occurred in November 1985 when the M-19 guerrillas burst into the building and Army set on fire. At the time, Peña was the chief of operations for the XIII Brigade.

Faced with the fact, the Public Prosecutor’s Office linked him to two decisive facts whose cases could not be clarified. The first, the torture of civilians that took place in the house vase and second, the murder of Carlos Horacio Urán, auxiliary magistrate.

In this one, the Attorney General of the Nation, as well as victims’ organizations, have linked him to the killing of large numbers of civilians in the army’s first division. That is why the prosecution called on him to submit an investigation, in addition to also summoning two other officers for the crimes in this case.

The Recognition Chamber of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace had summoned retired General Leonardo Barrero, former commander of the Armed forces. However, at the request of his lawyer, it was decided to postpone the appointment initially agreed for the February 27, 2023.

It was explained that: “The appearing party’s lawyer, Julieth Castellanos, has informed this Chamber that it is not possible for her to attend the appeal of this court on the proposed day for medical and health reasons. which prevented her from preparing the due diligence with her agent and becoming a party to the proceedings.

It should be recalled that the retired general had been summoned in the ongoing investigations in the macro case 08, in which investigations were underway on possible alliances between the paramilitarism and law enforcement in the context of armed conflict.

According to what was announced by the JEP: “It has been established that Mr. Leonardo Alfonso Barrero Gordillo could have, due to his position as a member of the public force, an alleged link with paramilitary structures and committed crimes.”

The JEP also indicated that evidence has been compiled in which it has been possible to determine the participation of the former commander of the 33rd Infantry Battalion Batalla Junín of the XI Brigade of the national army in the so-called “demobilization of EPL and FARC guerrilla factions” in 1996.