Colombia: Soldiers accused of extrajudicial killings freed

Over the last two weeks, 31 Colombian soldiers accused of the forced disappearance and murder of 11 young men from the poor Bogotá suburb of Soacha have been released from prison on the grounds that they were not formally indicted within 90 days of their arrest, as established by Colombian law. Of the 42 members of the Colombian army implicated in what is known here as the "Soacha case", 18 were released between Dec. 30 and Jan. 7, six on Tuesday Jan. 12 and seven more on Wednesday Jan. 13. They are facing charges of luring a number of young men from Soacha in August and September 2008 with false job promises, murdering them and presenting them as guerrillas killed in combat (euphemistically referred to as "false positives"). The scandal, which broke out in late 2008, led to the removal of three generals and 24 other officers and noncommissioned officers, as well as the resignation of then army chief General Mario Montoya, regarded as one of the promoters of the so-called "body count" system, which uses incentives like weekend passes, cash bonuses, promotions and trips abroad to reward soldiers and officers for "results" in the counterinsurgency effort. A total of 1,900 "false positive" cases are awaiting investigation by the Human Rights Unit of the Attorney General's Office.