Mapiripán Massacre
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| Mapiripán Massacre | |
|---|---|
| Location | Mapiripán, Meta Colombia |
| Date | July 15 to July 20, 1997 |
| Attack type | shooting, mass murder, massacre |
| Weapon(s) | small arms |
| Deaths | unknown |
| Perpetrator(s) | United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) |
The Mapiripán Massacre was a massacre of civilians that took place in Mapiripán, Meta Department, Colombia. The massacre was carried out from July 15 to July 20, 1997 by Colombian paramilitaries, specifically the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
On July 12, 1997 two planeloads of paramilitaries arrived at the airport of San José del Guaviare, which also served as a base for anti-narcotics police. The paramilitaries then traveled through territories where the Colombian National Army manned checkpoints.
On July 15, 1997, the paramilitiaries arrived at Mapiripán. They used chainsaws and machetes to murder, behead, dismember, and disembowel a number of civilians. Because the bodies were thrown into a river, it is unknown exactly how many people died.
In proceedings before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the government of Colombia has admitted that members of its military forces also played a role in the massacre, through omission.[1] General Jaime Uscátegui allegedly ordered local troops under his command to stay away from the area in which the murders were taking place until the paramilitaries finished the massacre and left. Retired General Uscátegui was later prosecuted, put on trial, and subsequently acquitted.[2][3]
One of the paramilitary leaders allegedly responsible for the massacre, Dumas de Jesús Castillo Guerrero, alias ‘Carecuchillo’, surrendered to authorities on May 20, 2008. after having been considered dead for half a year.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Case of the "Mapiripán Massacre" v. Colombia. Judgment on Merits, Reparations and Costs Inter-American Court of Human Rights, September 15, 2005.
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