(IPYS/IFEX) – The Colombian Attorney General’s Office is bringing to trial Carlos Castaño, head of the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC). He is accused of ordering the murder of journalist Jaime Garzón, who was killed on 13 August 1999. Also facing trial are Juan Pablo Ortiz Agudelo, alias […]
(IPYS/IFEX) – The Colombian Attorney General’s Office is bringing to trial Carlos Castaño, head of the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC). He is accused of ordering the murder of journalist Jaime Garzón, who was killed on 13 August 1999. Also facing trial are Juan Pablo Ortiz Agudelo, alias “Bochas”, and Edilberto Antonio Sierra Ayala, alias “Toño”, alleged to have carried out the crime. Ortiz Agudelo and Sierra Ayala are thought to be linked to the gang of hired killers “La Terraza” in Medellín.
The Human Rights Department of the Attorney General’s Office feels that it has found sufficient evidence against the accused. This strengthens the hypothesis that the paramilitary group carried out the murder and weakens other versions that have arisen about the case. However, the presiding attorney told IPYS’ correspondent in Colombia that this does not mean that new leads will not be investigated as the case progresses.
This statement is particularly relevant because some have suggested that very viable hypotheses have been discarded by the Attorney General’s office.
Evidence of this opinion is encapsulated in a December 2001 Inter American Press Association (IAPA) report on the eve of the Attorney General’s Office’s closure of the investigation. According to IAPA’s report, the office did not give sufficient weight to different pieces of evidence suggesting that, in addition to Castaño, national army officers participated in planning the murder. The decision to only try Castaño, Ortiz Agudelo and Sierra Ayala may mean that some aspects of the case will remain unsolved.
