Colombia 'false positives' scandal: 5 retired army men sentenced over killing of 35 civilians

A peace tribunal in Colombia sentenced five retired Army members on Friday (November 13) to up to 6-1/2 years of reparations work for their involvement in the killing and disappearance of 35 civilians between 2002 and 2006. Under a "false positives" scandal, they killed civilians and falsely reported them as guerrillas killed in combat during Colombia's decades-long internal armed conflict. During the conflict, over 450,000 people were killed, and millions were displaced.

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace, a transitional justice court, was created in 2016 and assigned to probe crimes committed during the internal conflict. The court confirmed in a statement that those retired Army members were sentenced after the former soldiers admitted responsibility for the crimes and gave information to officials.

The crimes took place between 2002 and 2006 in the rural area of Dabeiba, in the northwestern department of Antioquia, Colombia. The information was provided by two majors, a captain, a sergeant, and a corporal. Following the input, 77 bodies were recovered, of which 18 have been identified, and 17 have been returned to families.

The court outlined reparations covering infrastructure projects like road and bridge reconstruction, along with humanitarian efforts and ongoing searches for the disappeared. Colombia’s Truth Commission has documented roughly 8,208 extrajudicial killings carried out by the military between 1978 and 2016. Nearly 4,000 security force members across all ranks, among them 17 generals, have taken part in the JEP’s probes into so-called “false positives” and forced disappearances.

Under the JEP framework, former guerrilla leaders, military personnel, and civilians who fully disclose their role in these crimes and cooperate with investigators could face reparations sentences of up to eight years, while those who withhold full cooperation risk prison terms as long as 20 years.

Separately, dozens of soldiers have already been arrested and convicted through Colombia’s ordinary justice system for “false positive” killings. Some victims remain classified as missing, their remains never returned to grieving families. Meanwhile, the JEP continues investigating over 250,000 crimes tied to the country’s internal armed conflict.