19 Colombian soldiers convicted for extrajudicial killings .

Source: Colombia Reports

19 Colombian soldiers convicted for extrajudicial killings .
Tuesday, 31 July 2012 08:59 Courtney Scott

Nineteen members of the Colombian Army were convicted of killing 15 civilians and falsely presenting them as leftist guerrilla members between 2007 and 2008, reported newspaper El Tiempo Monday.

The soldiers were handed down sentences varying between 30 to 40 years at a second hearing for crimes committed in the southwestern Nariño department. Investigations began after autopsy results showed that the victims' bodies displayed no signs of combative wounds.

The soldiers dressed the civilians as FARC members to artificially boost enemy kill counts and recieve government incentive-based benfits, in what has become known as the "false positives" scandal.

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The "false positive" scandal first came to light in 2008 after civilians registered as guerrillas killed in combat were found in a mass grave near the border of Venezuela. More than 3,500 Colombian state agents have been implicated in the scandal.

Read more: http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/25336-colombian-soldiers-charged-with-false-positive-murders.html