Image taken from :verdadabierta.com
On March 16, 2022, the Criminal Court of the Specialized Circuit of Yopal, Casanare convicted the paramilitary Juan Carlos Alfonso Zubieta alias “Cuarto de Pollo” “El Enano” or “Miller” in first instance, as co-perpetrator, for the crime of aggravated forced disappearance of five young peasants, leaving unpunished the crime of torture against the victims, since the statute of limitations of the criminal action had been decreed.
For these same facts, on September 27, 2012, the Police Commander of Monterrey, Casanare, Second Sergeant William Castillo Mosquera was convicted, who, according to different evidence in the criminal process, as well as testimonies and versions of several people, together with the serious contradictions in which he incurred, acted as the determining agent in the forced disappearance of these five people. The Attorney General’s Office also opened a charge sheet against this policeman.
The facts date back to August 15, 2003, when peasants Luis Alfredo Castillo Castro, 28 years old, Carlos Castillo Castro, 24 years old, James Holguín Vargas, 42 years old, Carlos Eduardo Suárez Carrillo, 55 years old, and Oscar Palomino, 18 years old, left from the municipality of Paratebueno for Trinidad, Casanare, in a combined truck and a double truck to carry out agricultural work by order of their employer, Mr. Carlos González.
That night they stayed in Paratebueno, Cundinamarca, and got up early the next morning to reach their destination. Before arriving in the municipality of Monterrey, Casanare, the victims stopped at a restaurant for breakfast, and there they were intercepted by members of the Autodefensas Campesinas del Casanare -ACC-, who acted in collusion with agent Castillo. The peasants were last seen there.
According to paramilitary versions, after the workers were detained, they were taken to the Tacuyá River bridge and handed over to the paramilitary commander of that area, who held them for about two weeks. During this time, the victims were tortured and later killed.
In the closing arguments, the prosecution stated that the facts:
“… had its genesis within the territorial dispute that had as protagonists the AUTODEFENSAS CAMPESINAS DE CASANARE headed by Mr. HÉCTOR BUITRAGO RODRÍGUEZ alias el PATRÓN or BARRIGAS and the AUTODEFENSAS DE CORDOBA and URABA headed by the brothers FIDEL and VICENTE CASTAÑO, who through excessive violence by means of weapons, tried to maintain the control of the territory and the others to take control of it, This dispute involved many innocent people, since any person who moved between the city of Villavicencio and El Yopal was a victim of the siege by those who dominated the territory, branding them as members of one side or the other, often based on a priori accusations and others as a result of their criminal activities, which led to an escalation of crimes against many people who were not part of this war”.
Although several members of the Autodefensas Campesinas del Casanare have been condemned for these acts and have revealed details about them, to date it is unknown where the victims may be buried.
In the criminal investigation conducted by the Specialized Unit against Human Rights Violations, in July 2016, the prosecutor’s office heard the testimony of Mr. Wilmer Santiago Cutiva, a member of the Autodefensas Campesinas del Casanare at the time of the facts, who stated that he and other paramilitaries were in a place where other members of the armed organization were taking several victims to kill. Regarding the events in Monterrey, he indicated that they received the victims, kept them for two or three days and then executed them with a knife on HK’s orders. The bodies were buried in a single grave.
When he confessed to these facts, the Prosecutor’s Office linked him to the process by means of questioning and, in view of his interest in taking advantage of an anticipated sentence, the office issued an indictment.
In addition to accepting his responsibility, Mr. Cutiva, also known as Alias “Tolima”, expressed his desire to collaborate and deliver the bodies of the missing victims, indicating that they were in the vicinity of Tauramena, Casanare, and the victims requested the Prosecutor’s Office to carry out the pertinent work to perform the prospecting and exhumation in the indicated place, in spite of which the bodies were not found.
The case of these five peasants is part of the scourge of forced disappearance in the department of Casanare, considered one of the departments most affected by this problem of forced disappearance. Between 2000 and 2003, the Department of Casanare was plagued by hundreds of forced disappearances and summary executions perpetrated by the paramilitary group Autodefensas Campesinas del Casanare (Peasant Self-Defense Forces of Casanare). Dozens of peasants, farmers, workers, and villagers – men and women – were taken from their homes, intercepted on the roads or summoned to appear before the commanders of these groups in their camps from where they have not returned.
According to figures from the National Information Network -RNI- of the Victims Unit, it has left 4,129 victims between 1985 and 2019. Yopal is the municipality with the highest figures with 843 cases, followed by Aguazul, 781 cases, Monterrey, 493 cases, and Villanueva, 454 cases.
For all of the above reasons, the victims and their representation by the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective -Cajar- welcome this judicial advance and request the Colombian State to adopt all necessary measures to find the missing youths, to carry out all activities aimed at guaranteeing the capture of the paramilitary Luis Alfonso Zubieta who is enjoying the benefit of freedom, as well as to comply with international and regional recommendations on human rights and incorporate international standards for the search of their families and due diligence in the proceedings.
Where are they ?
Image taken from :verdadabierta.com
