CAT/C/COL/CO/5 Extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and other grave human rights violations 10. The Committee is concerned by the persistence of grave human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, in the State party. It notes, however, that, in his latest report on the human rights situation in Colombia, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the Commission’s office in Colombia had not documented any further cases of “false positives” in 2014 but did document cases in which the armed forces had attempted to portray victims of arbitrary killings as enemy combat casualties or had rearranged crime scenes to make it appear as though the killings had been in self-defence (see A/HRC/28/3/Add.3, para. 43). While it takes note of information provided by the State party’s delegation about the prosecution of members of security forces charged with having committed extrajudicial killings, including cases of “false positives”, the Committee finds it regrettable that it has not received information concerning criminal trials or convictions for the offence of enforced disappearance (arts. 2, 12 and 16). The State party should ensure that extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and other grave human rights violations are investigated promptly, effectively and impartially, that suspected perpetrators stand trial, that those who are found guilty are punished accordingly and that all victims are provided with effective redress, including adequate compensation. The military justice system 11. The Committee appreciates the explanations offered by the State party’s delegation regarding the fact that military courts are barred from trying civilians and its description of the content of a number of pending bills that would reform the military justice system. However, it considers that, if the amendments proposed by the Government were to be adopted, military courts would have jurisdiction over cases involving acts committed by military personnel that could be classified as any of the different categories of homicide or mistreatment of civilians (art. 2, para. 1). The State party should ensure that grave human rights violations and other abuses committed against civilians by military personnel do not fall within the jurisdiction of military courts. Paramilitaries and groups that have formed since the demobilization 12. The Committee takes note with concern of the shortcomings exhibited by the special paramilitary demobilization process being pursued under the terms of Justice and Peace Act No. 975/2005 as amended by Act No. 1592/2012 and observes that, although this process has helped in some way to bring out the truth, it appears to have allowed many crimes committed by members of paramilitary groups to go unpunished, thereby denying their victims’ right to full redress. The explanations offered by the delegation notwithstanding, and even though an access plan has been agreed upon with the United States Department of Justice, the Committee believes that the extradition of the chief commanders of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) to stand trial for drug trafficking may have had a negative impact on the investigations being conducted as part of the justice and peace process. The Committee is also concerned about the serious abuses — including enforced disappearances, murders, sexual violence, the recruitment of minors, threats and forced displacements — committed against civilians by the armed groups that were formed in the wake of the demobilization of paramilitary organizations. It is especially concerned by reports indicating that these groups are responsible for the numerous kidnappings and murders that have occurred in the last few years in the city of Buenaventura, in the Valle del Cauca (arts. 2, 4, 12, 14 and 16). GE.15-08413 3

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