Today there will be a “plantón” (sit-in, encampment, protest) in Buenos Aires, Argentina at 11 am local time and a court hearing at 4 pm local time that relates to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) finding in 2021 that at least 6,402 people were murdered by the country’s armed forces and falsely declared combat kills, “false positives”, between 2002 and 2008 during the presidency of Álvaro Uribe Vélez.
This statement on the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CAJAR) website explains: “In the framework of the filing of the complaint, in application of the principle of universal jurisdiction, against Álvaro Uribe Vélez, for the commission of extrajudicial executions during his government, Chamber II of the Argentine Federal Criminal and Correctional Chamber has summoned a hearing for [Tuesday] April 14.”
It adds: “The complaint, filed in Argentina in November 2023 by 11 victims and three Colombian human rights organizations (CSPP, Cajar and CJL), substantiates the need to urge universal jurisdiction in the face of the persistent impunity in Colombia with respect to investigations and sanctions aimed at former presidents and those most responsible for extrajudicial executions, as they constitute international crimes.”
Those three organizations: CAJAR, the Committee of Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) and the Corporation for Judicial Freedom (CJL) are accompanied by Peace Brigades International.
Infobae further reports: “Three years after an international lawsuit was filed in Argentina against former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez for extrajudicial executions during his term, the Federal Criminal and Correctional Chamber of that country set a date for a hearing. …The objective is for the Argentine justice system to investigate the possible responsibility of the former president in thousands of extrajudicial executions that occurred between 2002 and 2008 in Colombia, according to figures from the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP).”
And Colombia.com notes: “Tuesday, April 14, former President Álvaro Uribe will appear before an Argentine court, however, it is not yet known if the president will appear and if not, what are the arguments that his lawyers will put forward for the decision.”
The statement on the CAJAR website concludes: “In light of the above, it is essential to mobilise the efforts of citizens, civil society, solidarity groups, the media and advocacy organisations to urge the Argentine justice system, in accordance with the principle of universal jurisdiction, to ensure the criminal case proceeds, by opening the relevant investigation, in an act of shared responsibility with the families of the 6,402 victims of extrajudicial executions, who, after decades of waiting and resistance, continue to take action and seek recognition and punishment on the premise that crimes against humanity and war crimes must know no borders when it comes to their prosecution. We thank you for reading this, for your interest, and for your willingness to address this international issue, which involves cross-border ties of solidarity and justice.”
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