COLOMBIA
‘False Positives,’ and Proof
New evidence ties the head of the Colombian army to the alleged cover-up of the killing of civilians to beef up body counts in the fight against communist revolutionaries more than a decade ago – known as the “false positives” scandal.
An investigation insider provided the Associated Press with documents indicating that Gen. Nicacio Martínez Espinel signed off on at least seven questionable payments to informers who supposedly identified guerillas, supporting similar allegations lodged against the general by Human Rights Watch in February.
Taken with other circumstantial evidence, the signatures add new fuel to speculation that Martínez Espinel may have supported the practice of killing civilians and planting weapons on them to make the murder look like a victory in the fight against the rebels – though he said he has faced no criminal or disciplinary investigations and had no combat role during the dates mentioned on the new documents.
Notably, the evidence comes in the wake of reports that Martínez Espinel this year ordered troops to double the number of leftist guerrillas and criminals they killed, captured or forced to surrender in combat.
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