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[Jackpot]

Apparently this scandal first broke in 2008 but I remember no mention and since then evidence that the highest levels of the military knew and condoned the killings has surfaced.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...91d-11e5-bed8-1093ee58dad0_story.html?hpid=z8

Colombian army killed civilians to fake battlefield success, rights group says

In a twisted attempt to show battlefield success against FARC rebels, the Colombian military killed hundreds, possibly thousands, of civilians between 2002 and 2008, falsely depicting them as slain combatants, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch.

The killings, known as “false positives,” were the source of a huge scandal in 2008, but the new report alleges that the practice was far more extensive and systematic than previously known. Many of Colombia's highest-ranking military officials either condoned the practice or did nothing to stop it, according to the rights group.

“Under pressure from superiors to show ‘positive’ results and boost body counts in their war against guerrillas, soldiers and officers abducted victims or lured them to remote locations under false pretenses — such as with promises of work — killed them, placed weapons on their lifeless bodies, and then reported them as enemy combatants killed in action,” the report states.

During that time, commanding officers placed heavy emphasis on “combat kills” as a measure of military success, the report says, in some cases rewarding troops with cash payments and vacation time.

Soldiers abducted rural peasants, drug addicts, the homeless and petty criminals, killing them and dressing them in combat fatigues, then filling out bogus battlefield reports to pad fatality numbers.

“What makes these crimes unique is that they were not about eliminating political opponents or supposed guerrilla sympathizers; they were basically about killing civilians just to boost body count stats in the war on guerrillas,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for Human Rights Watch.

The killings have subsided since 2008, when the false-positives scandal erupted after the abduction and killing of 19 young men from a Bogota slum. The army’s top commander was forced to resign, and three army generals and nearly a dozen officers were fired. Santos, then defense secretary, pledged to investigate.

But the Human Rights Watch report says other military officers have been promoted since, despite evidence of extrajudicial killings under their command. Colombian prosecutors are investigating more than 3,000 allegations of false-positive killings, the report said. Although about 800 soldiers have been charged, most of them are lower-ranking.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), a longtime critic of U.S. military aid flowing to Colombia despite evidence of rights violations, said that he was “deeply troubled” by the report and that it should force a new look at U.S. security assistance.

Pay soldiers by the kill and they'll slaughter civilians for a profit.

 

[sixteen-bit]

That's fucked up.

 

[Gintoki]

What in the fuck

 

[Shuggananas]

Classy
Man what a wreck of an army

 

[anonymous_abc]

I can't even....

 

[industrian]

Did they sprinkle some crack on them as well?

 

[WAR recon zero]

colombian here

every side on this 60 year war is fucked up

 

[Walpurgis]

A strong reminder of the depravity humans are capable of. I wonder how the U.S. will react since their name is directly attached to this through funding. They like to talk shit about other countries and human rights. I hope they back it up here.

 

[Retrocide]

Jesus....No one stood a chance with FARC kidnapping civilians for ranson and the Colombian Army Kidnapping and killing Civilians for rewards...

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Is Colombia still this fucked up?

 

[KPJZKC]

It's all about the metrics!

 

[Chuckie]

What in the actual fuck?!

 

[Slayer-33]

Padded kill counts? God damn

Just read the bolded... God damn

 

[Funky Papa]

Is Colombia still this fucked up?

I has vastly improved over the 80's and 90's, but anything related to the army and the FARC is some fucked up shit.

I went to high school with a girl hailing from Medellin and she would always mention how safe she felt at night over here (Spain). She never gave any specific details about what prompted her mother to move, other than every prudent Colombian having a "trust no one" mentality. It's hard to blame them.

Also, padded kill counts have been known since the 90's. They were pretty much an open secret, although for some reason they've never been investigated as they should.

 

[Yoda]

Rigging those KPIs.

 

[Filthy Casual]

This world man.

 

[JDSN]

Yes, they call it "false positives" as if those words lessen the fact they killed civilians, the current presidente wad defender ministerio while this happened and a bunch of retired generals are getting looked at, but everybody is gonna walk.

 

[EGM1966]

Fuck me. Mindbogglingly horrible. World we live in etc.

 

[TimorousPanda]

Holy shit. It's hard to wrap my mind around this kind of stuff. I don't understand how someone can come up with this in the first place and then pitch it as a reasonable idea.