Credit where it's due: an appropriate response to a human rights abuse
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Colombia’s army is under a new human rights cloud as soldiers stand accused of brutally murdering three children in Arauca, in the country's northeast. This time, though, military authorities are handling the situation appropriately, cooperating with civilian investigators to an extent rarely seen in the past.
The bodies of the children, 14-year-old Yenni Torres and her 9 and 6-year-old brothers, Jimmy and Jefferson, were found on October 14 in a mass grave in the conflictive municipality of Tame, Arauca. All showed stab wounds, and an examination of Yenni Torres’ body showed signs of rape.
Mounting evidence points to members of the Army’s 5th Mobile Brigade, a major past recipient of U.S. assistance. The main suspect is an officer: 2nd Lieutenant Raúl Muñoz, who has confessed to the rape – and an earlier rape of a 13-year-old in a nearby town – but insists he didn’t commit the murders. It is unclear whether how many other Army personnel, if any, were involved in the crime.
Too often in the past, the Colombian military – often joined by civilian presidents and defense ministers – has responded to abuse allegations by circling the wagons, mounting campaigns to shield both the accused and their institution. Officers have covered up crimes, political leaders have publicly attacked the accusers, and both have blocked efforts to investigate abuses. Even in egregious cases like the 2008 Soacha “false positives” murders, for instance, military lawyers have challenged the civilian justice system’s jurisdiction, seeking instead to have cases tried in military courts where acquittal or dismissal is virtually assured.
Not so this time. The Colombian defense establishment’s reaction to the Arauca murders has – so far, at least – been proactive and transparent: a by-the-book model of “what to do after an abuse takes place.” Since evidence began pointing to the Army, measures taken have included the following.
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7 officers, some with command responsibility over the area, have been suspended. They include two lieutenant colonels and a major, all battalion commanders.
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The civilian prosecutor’s office (Fiscalía) is investigating 60 members of the army unit that, at the time of the crime, was stationed nearby. The investigation includes DNA testing.
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Interior Minister Germán Vargas Lleras has assured that there will be no effort to have the accused officers tried in the military court system.
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Speaking before a military audience, President Juan Manuel Santos called for the “full weight of the law to fall” on the perpetrators, and that “they be identified and receive an exemplary punishment.”
“Exemplary” is the correct word: this is the right way to deal with an alleged human rights abuse. Instead of stonewalling, reacting transparently as soon as incriminating evidence emerges, submitting it to the civilian justice system and cooperating with investigators. This is more than just good scandal management: it is compliance with international human rights standards and the rule of law.
In this especially appalling case, though, investigating and punishing those responsible is less controversial. The perpetrators’ motive had no political or economic character. Few doubt that they were a small number of sociopathic “bad apples,” and not – as may be the case with “false positives” – the tip of a larger, institution-wide iceberg.
The Arauca victims were poor children, not political activists, opponents of an investment project or parties to a land dispute. Alleging guerrilla ties makes no sense. Soldiers stood no chance of claiming any reward for their murder.
For these reasons, Colombia’s army and defense ministry have been far more forthcoming than usual. Little or no outside pressure was necessary to encourage them to act quickly, cooperate with civilian investigators and move against the commanders.
This, however, is how they should act every time a serious abuse allegation emerges. For Colombia’s security forces, the challenge is to react similarly the next time an abuse occurs, no matter whom the victim is.