The Attorney General of Colombia has reported that there are more than 50,000 victims of criminal activities by paramilitary groups in the country. The report is based on confessions given by ex members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
According to the report, which was publicised by RCN Radio, 25,083 of those victims were murdered, 10,925 were the subjected to forced displacement, 3,459 were forcibly disappeared, and 1,589 were illegaly recruited by AUC.
The Attorney General has exhumed 3,806 common graves within the last five years, finding 4,792 bodies. The province of Antioquia has the highest number of bodies discovered, though only 376 out of 823 found were given back to families.
Director of the Legal Medical Institute, Carlos Eduardo Valdes, told RCN that the number of bodies in mass graves could end up being a much higher figure. “We have around 68,000 cases, of which 15,000 are related forced disappearances, so by those calculations the bodies in graves could total more than 50,000,” added Valdes.
The Attorney General has legal proceedings against 1,126 persons related with the forced disappearances. So far only 14 ex paramilitaries have been convicted.
One of the reasons for such a low number is that AUC agreed to demobilise in 2005 in exchange for legal benefits such as lower prison sentences (a maximum of eight years).
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