Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Wednesday sacked some two dozen military officials, including three generals, following a probe into suspected executions initially reported as combat deaths.
“The investigation has found that members of the armed forces could be involved in murders,” Uribe told a press conference in the presidential residence, flanked by senior military leaders.
Military commander General Freddy Padilla relieved three generals, 11 colonels, four majors, one captain, one lieutenant and seven lower-ranking soldiers of their duties, following a probe into the disappearance of youths from poor neighborhoods in south Bogota.
Officials initially said 25 people had been fired.
In a statement, the defense ministry cited a “lack of leadership at different levels” that could have led to collusion between soldiers and outside criminals, “who enjoyed impunity in exchange for helping achieve results.”
The youths were declared to be rebels killed in combat in a remote area of northern Colombia just days after their disappearance was reported in Bogota.
The scandal broke following the discovery late last month of 19 bodies in communal graves in northwestern Colombia. An army investigation was launched on Oct. 3.
Relatives of the victims said that before they disappeared they had been offered high-paying work on farms in the north of the country by strangers.
They said the youths were killed just a day or two after disappearing, making it unlikely that they would have had time to join and train with an armed rebel movement.
The ousted generals, top military officials in the region where the bodies were found, declared their innocence.
“In no circumstance would it have crossed my mind to have someone murdered to present a false positive,” General Paulino Coronado told Caracol radio.
General Roberto Pico told radio RCN he was “very surprised” by the government’s decision.
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