Slain Activist's Family Can Sue Narco-Terrorist
Slain Activist's Family Can Sue Narco-Terrorist
By ALEX PICKETT
Tuesday, October 07, 2014Last Update: 5:53 PM PT
(CN) - The relatives of a slain political activist can continue to press claims a former Colombian paramilitary leader engaged in torture, extrajudicial killing, war crimes and crimes against humanity, a federal judge ruled.
Although U.S. District Judge Edwin Torres narrowed the claims Carlos Mario Jimenez Naranjo must face, he declined to throw out all of those made by the relatives and others against the former high commander of the Bloque Central Bolivar, a part of the United Self-Defense Forces of Columbia.
The family members brought the suit against Jimenez Naranjo, also known as "Macaco," in 2010. They amended the complaint two years later to reflect changes in how the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the Alien Tort Statute. Both complaints alleged extrajudicial killing, torture, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
During Colombia's 40-year civil war, the government regularly used the AUC to battle leftist guerillas in remote areas. These paramilitaries have been implicated in numerous instances of torture and murder of civilians as well as the trafficking of cocaine to the United States. According to plaintiffs, paramilitary soldiers acting under the direction of Jimenez Naranjo murdered Eduardo Estrada and Alma Rosa Jaramillo in the summer of 2001. Estrada and Jaramillo belonged to the Program for Peace and Development, a non-governmental organization that strives to give farmers alternatives to growing coca plants, which are used to make cocaine.
During that time, the paramilitaries used violence to ensure the drug trade flourished in the Middle Magdalena River region of Colombia. On June 28, 2001, soldiers affiliated with the BCB stopped a public vehicle and removed Alma Rosa Jaramillo. Days later, her mutilated torso - showing signs of torture -- was found in a river, the complaint says.
More:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/10/07/72215.htm