Imminent release of Colombia far-right militia leaders draws concern

Imminent release of Colombia far-right militia leaders draws concern
By Libardo Cardona, The Associated Press
March 7, 2014 1:23 AM

BOGOTA - One veteran of Colombia's disbanded far-right militias admitted to ordering or taking part in at least 3,000 killings, mostly targeting leftists, and incinerating many of the corpses to destroy evidence.

Another ordered a hit on a prominent intellectual who had been unjustly accused of backing insurgents and whose laptop held evidence that helped convict Colombia's then-national spy chief in the killing.

Those two men and about 400 other right-wing paramilitaries are due to walk free this year after serving eight-year sentences for crimes that normally carry more than triple the prison terms. The first is expected to be released within days.

Their lenient sentences were enshrined in a 2005 "Justice and Peace" law that provided a legal framework for the militias' supposed dismantling under a peace deal with the government of then-President Alvaro Uribe.

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