June 2009
ABColombia, its partners and civil society organisations in Colombia continue to raise concerns over reports of extrajudicial executions (EJEs) carried out by the armed forces. Despite the government’s claims that there have been no new cases of ‘false positives’ (the term used to describe EJEs) since October 2008 (when 27 members of Colombia’s security forces were dismissed following allegations of their participation in killings of civilians), human rights and civil society organisations maintain that the practice has not ended.
Reports by the Centre for Research and Popular Education, CINEP, (Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular), a highly respected “think tank” on human rights and armed conflict, and The Colombia-Europe-United States Coordination, CCEEU, a network of Colombian human-rights groups, both maintain that the EJEs are not a thing of the past.
ABColombia welcomes the news that the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions will visit Colombia this month and we hope he will use this opportunity to raise concerns relating to the continuation of extrajudicial executions directly with the Colombian government.