Former Colombian president, Álvaro Uribe, expressed willingness to provide explanations in Argentina following a request from prosecutor Carlos Stornelli to investigate whether human rights had been violated during his government administration. Uribe governed Colombia from 2002 to 2010.
“I’ll be careful explain the required details to the Argentine community. I have already done it on some occasions with my presence in Buenos Aires… ”, he added.
He did so in a note he sent to Clarion in response to the accusation made by the public prosecutor Carlos Stornelli for alleged crimes against humanity committed by the armed forces and the police during his mandate.
In that writing Uribe reduced the serious accusations he was accused of to “a political and ideological question” and strongly criticizes the political intentions of the Colombian and international institutions behind the complaint.
Regarding justice in the country, he assured: “There are huge differences in the number of violations of human rights, known as false positives (…) The number of the Special Judge for the Peace (JEP) was provided by NGOs, mostly with ideological biases and declared opponents of our policies”.
Prosecutor Stornelli accused Uribe of war crimes and crimes against humanity, among others 6112 cases of extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances of people committed by the Armed Forces (FFAA) of Colombia.
Furthermore, he added: “Many members of the PEC were members of left-wing NGOs who were in opposition to the government I chaired.”
In 2017, within the framework of the Peace Agreement signed between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the Global System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition (SIVJRNR) was created. This is an extrajudicial instance to intensify the crimes committed during the armed conflict between the Colombian state and the FARC.
Among the mechanisms that make up the Global System are the Special Justice for Peace (PEC) and the Truth Clarification Commission. All these institutions are strongly questioned by Uribe who, moreover, does not know its legitimacy.
Regarding the international jurisdiction to investigate crimes against humanity in every corner of the world and which prosecutor Stornelli accepted, Uribe stated: “The special (universal) jurisdiction, which should be complementary or subsidiary, he is not interested in the impunity of atrocities committed by the FARC terrorist group“.
And he added: “For example, in the Congress of Colombia there are deputies convicted of crimes against humanity, such as the recruitment and rape of children. These members of Congress did not go to prison for a single day nor were they subjected to the symbolic and unenforceable sentences of the failed peace agreement.”
The crimes for which Uribe was accused they would have occurred between 2002 and 2008, period in which he was President of Colombia and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, his responsibility would have been to allow and authorize these alleged extrajudicial executions, which would have been falsely presented as people killed in combat by Colombian soldiers, in contexts of direct clashes against the guerrilla. They were called “false positives”.
In his writing, Uribe He denied giving orders to the military to commit crimes against civilians: “There is not a single soldier who can say that he has received a bad example or an improper insinuation from me…”
But at the same time he recognized that some members of the Colombian Armed Forces have committed crimes against civilians: “Some soldiers, shamefully, violated human rights and it was a great disgrace for the Nation. “They left a serious stain that can never be forgotten.”
He also acknowledges having been informed of specific cases: “In late 2008 I met with an army captain at the United Nations Office in Bogota. He told me that in the Ocaña Brigade they killed innocent people to pretend they were fighting against drug trafficking. Leaving the meeting, as soon as I crossed the threshold of that office, I informed the country. Those responsible were sentenced by the court to 40 years in prison.”.
Uribe defended the general action of the armed forces during his government and presented them as victims of the Colombian judicial institutions: “Our Armed Forces, never at the service of a dictatorship, nor beneficiaries of impunity, they were equated with terrorism. Its members were subjected to the JEP, justice imposed by the FARC and with its impostor-derived prejudices. The design of this Justice has also made it easier for the military to recognize crimes not committed to guarantee their freedom…”
The former president of Colombia closed his speech with a harsh criticism of his country’s judicial institutions: “The Truth Commission and other instruments born following an agreement that we do not recognise, They were created to please the FARC and the left-wing organizations themselves.”.
Federico Vázquez, of the master Clarín
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.