Colombia court accuses soldiers of killing 120 civilians

Peace court accuses 10 Colombian army members of murdering at least 120 civilians and falsely saying they were fighters.

A Colombian court has accused 10 members of the military and a civilian of forcibly disappearing 24 people and murdering at least 120 civilians and falsely presenting them as fighters who had been killed in combat. It is the first time that the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) tribunal in Bogota accused members of the army of being involved in the so-called “false positive” scandal. The JEP, which is investigating crimes and atrocities committed during half a century of armed conflict in the country, ruled earlier this year that Colombia’s military had carried out at least 6,400 extrajudicial killings and presented them as combat deaths between 2002 and 2008.