Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 13. Juli 2012 / Time Line July 13, 2012
Version 3.007/13/2012
The Mapiripan Massacre "Cover-Up" - 15 Years Later
State Department Affirmed Colombian Military Effort to "Cover Up" Involvement in Paramilitary Killings
U.S. Concerned about Prosecution of "Whistle-blower" Orozco; Junior Officer "Totally Clean," according to State Letter
Washington, D.C., July 13, 2012 - The Colombian military falsely blamed a junior officer for complicity in a 1997 paramilitary massacre "as part an effort to confuse and cover up the responsibility of others," according to a 2003 State Department letter, which we're featuring on our "Unredacted" blog today as our Document Friday selection.
This posting kicks off the Archive's commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the Mapiripan massacre, one of the most infamous and emblematic acts of violence of Colombia's decades-old conflict. A forthcoming Electronic Briefing Book now being prepared for the Archive's Web site will highlight new revelations from a highly anticipated set of declassified diplomatic cables on Mapiripan released earlier today by the State Department's Appeals Review Panel.
The State Department wrote the letter on behalf of Hernan Orozco, a former Colombian army colonel who cooperated with prosecutors during the investigation of his commanding officer, Gen. Jaime Uscategui, the first Colombian general to be sentenced in a major human rights case. The letter and other declassified documents published today show that the State Department harbored serious concerns that the "whistle-blower" junior officer Orozco was being unfairly persecuted in Colombia for testifying against a senior military commander.
Check out today's posting at the National Security Archive's "Unredacted" blog - http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/document-friday-the-mapiripan-massacre-cover-up/
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