Via the BBC:  Colombia ex-officer jailed after historic conviction

A former Colombian army officer has been found guilty of the forced disappearance of 11 people in 1985.

Colonel Alfonso Plazas Vega was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his actions as troops stormed the Palace of Justice in Bogota after it had been seized by left-wing rebels.

The 11 victims survived the military assault, but were taken away by the army and never seen again.

Human rights groups have hailed the judgement as a breakthrough.

[…]

The judges ruled that he was responsible for the forced disappearance of 11 survivors, most of whom worked in the building’s cafeteria.

The case was opened in 2024 after video footage emerged showing some of them alive after the assault, being taken away by soldiers.

The incident in question took place in 1985 when members of the M-19 took over the Palacio de Justicia in the heart of the seat of government in Bogotá.  It is located on the Plaza de Bolivar right across from the congress building and next to the offices of Bogotá’s mayor.  A block away is the president’s residence and the building that houses the offices of members of congress.

Here’s a photo of the re-constructed Palacio:  click.   The building was destroyed when the military response to the M-19 take-over lead to the building being directly attacked, leading to the death of members of the Supreme Court, amongst others.  When I first lived in Bogotá in 1994-1995 the building still had not been fully reconstructed. 

I was unaware of the case of the 11 disappeared persons and concur that bringing the military commander to justice is a positive move for human rights in Colombia.

The entire event remains the most dramatic guerrilla-related event ever to occur in a major Colombian city and questions remain to this day as to the degree to which the military’s decision to attack the building was one made by President Betancourt or was an independent (and illegal) decision made by the military.

The motivation of the M-19 guerrillas is also contested.  One thing is certain:  the event marked the M-19’s most dramatic action and also marked the beginning of its end as an active guerrilla group in Colombia.  It would eventually lay down its arms and convert itself into a political party, with an important role in the constituent assembly that re-wrote the Colombian constitution in 1991.

The part would eventually fall apart, although its legacy lives on, in part, as part of the Polo Democrático Alternativo.  Indeed, its presidential candidate, Gustavo Petro was affiliated with the M-19, winning a Chamber of Represenatives seats under the AD/M-19 label in 1991.