According to the Special Peace Jurisdiction, the ex-military would have been related to the extrajudicial executions of several Awá indigenous people in the Barbacoas, Tumaco and Ricaurte municipalities< /h2>
According to the JEP, the hearing where retired Army General Luis Montoya will be heard talk about the so-called ‘false positives’ was suspended until further notice. PHOTO: Colprensa
This Monday morning, the retired Army general, Luis Felipe Montoya, was expected to give a version before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) in within the framework of case 002. This investigates the serious situation of human rights violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) against indigenous communities, blacks, women, LGBTIQ+ people and peasants in Barbacoas, Tumaco and Ricaurte, municipalities located in Nariño.
At the hearing, the former soldier was going to speak about the alleged extrajudicial execution of members of the Awá indigenous community. However, it could not be carried out at the request of Montoya himself, who claimed to be looking for a defense attorney.
This was stated by the Peace Court to through his Twitter account, where he posted: “The magistracy will reschedule this procedure guaranteeing their right to defense.”It is worth mentioning that after several investigations led by this transitional justice mechanism, it was found that the major general (r) would be related to the murders of the indigenous people who, later, were presented as casualties in combat.
Through its Twitter account, the JEP announced that the version of the retired Army Major General, Luis Felipe Sánchez, was postponed for alleged extrajudicial executions in Nariño. PHOTO: via Twitter (@JEP_Colombia)
These Awá members were shown as members of the Mariscal Sucre Column of the extinct FARC guerrilla,which operated in the municipalities of Tumaco, Ricaurte and Barbacoas. In addition, the JEP found that as of 2006 there was an increase in cases of forced displacement and confinement of the civilian population due to the constant clashes between state groups and subversive movements in that region.
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It is worth mentioning that a few days ago the Investigation Chamber of this court had summoned Montoya to give his version of this fact, which had been under investigation since 2018, and in which it found that the main victims were the indigenous communities of the three municipalities that cover case 02.
It is not the first time that Montoya has had to give a version in court. In 2020 he was summoned along with five other colonels and two majors before the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation , for the alleged profiling of more than 130 people, including Colombian and foreign journalists, union leaders, and opposition politicians.
In this case, the public ministry determined that, since the Cyber-Intelligence Battalion, work would have been carried out for an official of the National Tax and Customs Directorate, DIAN.
Figures of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace05,241 victims are accredited in the macro-case that prioritizes the serious situation of human rights violations and infractions of International Humanitarian Law that affect, above all, the indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants and peasants of these three Nariño municipalities.
It is worth recalling that, a month ago, 10 top officials of the public force, including a general and 4 colonels, in addition to a third civilian designated as a recruiter, recognized publicly and before the victims their participation in the unlawful execution of civilians presented as casualties in combat, an episode known as ‘false positives’.
Given this, the president of the JEP , Eduardo Cifuentes stated: “The justice determined that the murders and forced disappearances presented as casualties in combat by State agents were the result of an institutional policy that established the body of the enemy fallen in combat c s the main indicator of the success of the military effort”.