The first general before the PEC

RICARDO AREIZA

[email protected] [19659003] General Henry William Torres Escalante, the highest-ranking officer to be prosecuted for his alleged responsibility in the "false positives" will also be the first to answer for these facts before the emerging special jurisdiction for peace (JEP) .

Although it was thought that the agenda With the dome of old Farc for kidnapping cases, the weekend confirmed that the retired senior official of the active duty, will have to appear tomorrow Tuesday before the Chamber of Definition of Legal Situations. The hearing was scheduled for 11 am

The officer, who was commander of the Ninth Brigade in Neiva in 2009, requested through the intermediary of his lawyer, submission to that jurisdiction . And in this condition, he was summoned to commence the respective proceedings. According to the protocols, Torres Escalante must sign, the act of submission.

The victims, also mentioned at the hearing, as well as the public prosecutor, can decide on the request presented. Subsequently, the Chamber that will be released with this 001 file will decide on its jurisdiction and the recognition of the victims.

Similarly, the magistrates will favor, according to the regulations, the restorative approach, supported in the components of truth, reconciliation, reparation and no repetition. These details will be definitive for the granting of benefits, including immediate release.

The audience will not be the only one. The court may hold the hearings it deems necessary to clarify the truth surrounding the events that occurred 12 years ago in Casanare.

Attorney Jaime Granados was confident that this diligence will serve to demonstrate the extent of this jurisdiction to investigate the events that occurred with the occasion of the armed conflict.

The Procedure

General Torres announced his submission to the JEP on July 21, 2017 at the time of the filing of the minutes. The transfer was approved at the end of the trial.

On 21 June, the first criminal judge of the circuit of Yopal (Casanare) left the fate of General Torres in the hands of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP).

Since the entry into force of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, 2,159 members of the Public Force have been subjected to this model of transitional justice.

Of these, 2,109 are members of the army, 34 of the police and 16 of the Navy. In addition, 1,578 members of the Force Publique regained their freedom early and transiently and regained their freedom in advance and transiently.

The Prosecution

The senior official was charged by a deputy prosecutor with the Supreme Court of Justice for the aggravated homicide crime on August 11, 2016. The Deputy Marshal María Paulina Riveros confirmed the accusatory resolution in September of the same year.

Among the material evidence presented by the prosecutor's office, 12 expert testimony, 224 documentary evidence and 93 testimonies that would have demonstrated the manner in which extrajudicial crimes were planned to bring out potential witnesses.

According to the Office of the Prosecutor, the Delta operation, headed by Lieutenant García, was aimed at preventing the two workers Daniel and Roque Torres became witnesses in other proceedings for Similar events occurred before and after the arrival of the senior official.

El reliefvo

Torres Escalante, who was at the head of Southwest Joint Command, was removed from office at the end of 2015, when the then Deputy Attorney, Jorge Fernando Perdomo, called him to investigate [19659023]. The army was surprisingly relieved. Faced with rumors of a possible arrest warrant, the government was anticipating and temporarily retiring from active duty with a pbad to the reserve.

On March 23, 2016 (Holy Wednesday) by Decree 487, the officer was called

Five days later, the arrest warrant announced publicly by Attorney General Eduardo Montealegre took place hours before retirement

. On the same day, General Torres volunteered. Since then, he is being held in the premises of the infantry school of Bogotá township, north

Torres is not the only policeman to have been the object of 39, similar surveys in several parts of the country, including Huila

. The prosecutor's office, 5,393 state agents are investigated for these facts. Currently, 2,308 investigations were conducted due to the death of 4,532 false guerrillas

In these cases, 961 members of the military and police forces and 249 others were found guilty when acquitted.

Human Rights Watch, a prestigious human rights observatory based in New York (USA) have documented other cases where other officers, recently promoted to generals, who were in Huila, appear at that time.

Early Sentence

García Céspedes was sentenced in January 2012 to an anticipated term of imprisonment of 22 years, as responsible for the crimes of homicide in person protected, fraud and lie in a public document, for the crime of the farmer José Cayetano Mendivelso occurred on December 17, 2006 in Tamara (Casanare). García, currently imprisoned in the prison of Facatativá (Cundinamarca), is also the subject of an investigation for other crimes of civilians that they pretended to be guerrillas, who eventually sprayed the general Torres.

Retraction

At that time he had declared between 2011 and 2014, on December 7, 2015, García's retracted. The officer, already convicted, said that he had never received direct orders from Torres Escalante and asked the victims for forgiveness.

With this testimony, attorney general Jaime Granados challenged the prosecution and requested that this new test. This same event will be presented at the hearing scheduled for Tuesday

The Victims

The testimony of Lieutenant Marco Fabián García Céspedes, convicted of several civilian deaths that he disguised as a guerrilla, he questioned him for the death of two peasants whom they sent as guerrillas killed in battle.

Farmers Daniel Torres Arciniegas and his 17-year-old son Roque Julio Torres were executed on 16 March 2007 in Aguazul (Casanare) as alleged guerillas

The scene was modified and the bodies dispersed to simulate an attack. One received a revolver without ammunition and the young man with a spell, a kind of changon to a single bullet. The deceased were presented as members of the company José David Suárez del Eln, killed in action.

Lieutenant Marco Fabián García Céspedes, a key witness in the investigation, eventually implicated General Torres. The officer stated that Torres Escalante, who served as commander of the 16th Brigade, "has always been kept informed of the operations and cases that have been presented."

This testimony before the Court of Peace of Ariporo Peace Circuit (Casanare) served as a support for the investigation for other similar events, including two peasants who had lodged a complaint against the army.

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