memorandum of justification concerning human ... - Just the Facts

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retook the Palace from terrorist group M-19. Army General (retired) Ivan Ramírez
Quintero (former commander of the Army‘s 1 st Division) remained incarcerated at the
Engineering Battalion in Bogotá for his alleged role in the case.
Wilson Duarte Ramon
On January 29, 2009, the Special Court of Arauca ordered the police of Saravena
(Arauca) to apologize publicly and pay reparations to the family of Wilson Duarte
Ramon, who was tortured and killed by the police on March 26 and 27, 2002. The police
unit must also implement and publicly post a human rights protection strategy. On July
26, 2007, seven defendants were convicted for involvement in this crime.
Maria Santamaria Galeano
In Antioquia, on January 22, 2009, the local Human Rights Unit within the
Prosecutor General‘s Office charged five soldiers – at the time members of the 4 th
Brigade in Medellin – with the May 28, 2005, death of Maria Santamaria Galeano.
Edilberto Vásquez Cardona
On March 26, 2009, the 2 nd Penal Court for the Circuit of Apartadó, sentenced
seven Army soldiers each to 30 years in prison for homicide of a protected person in the
disappearance and death of Edilberto Vásquez Cardona, a member of the San José de
Apartadó Peace Community, on January 12, 2006. (See Annex C for a listing of the
soldiers.)
San José de Apartadó: La Resbalosa
On January 26, 2009, the Prosecutor General‘s Office formally charged ten
soldiers from the Army‘s 47 th Infantry Battalion (―General Francisco de Paula Vélez‖)
assigned to the 17 th Brigade with homicide of a protected person, barbaric acts, and
aggravated criminal conspiracy for their participation in the February 20-21, 2005,
massacre of eight people in San José de Apartadó (Antioquia). (See Annex B for a listing
of the soldiers.) On October 28, 2008, Captain Guillermo Armando Gordillo Sánchez
formally accepted the charges against him of criminal conspiracy, homicide of a
protected person, and barbaric acts for his participation in the massacre. The Prosecutor
General‘s Office has found in its investigations that members of the Army‘s 47 th Infantry
Battalion colluded with former AUC leader Diego Murillo Bejarano‘s (Don Berna)
―Héroes de Tolová‖ bloc to combat the FARC in the area. Confessions by Don Berna,
who was extradited to the United States in May 2008, and other former AUC members
facilitated the prosecution. Don Berna accepted responsibility for the murders on May 7,
2008, in testimony given as part of the Justice and Peace Process (JPP). Paramilitary
leader Éver Veloza García (alias ―HH‖) also gave a declaration on the case on June 20,
2008. At least 10 other paramilitary members from the AUC‘s Héroes de Tolová Bloc
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