Colombia’s Petro replaces military commanders in human rights drive
By Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Friday designated new commanders for the army and the police, saying he selected the officers as a result of they haven’t been accused of corruption or human rights violations.
Colombia’s safety forces have an extended historical past of corruption scandals and human rights abuses dedicated in the course of the nation’s practically six many years of battle.
Petro, a critic of Colombia’s army institution and ex-member of the M-19 guerrillas, has promised profound modifications to safety forces and urged the brand new officers to guard life.
The factors for choosing the brand new commanders was “zero corruption, zero violation of basic rights,” Petro stated throughout a information convention.
“The idea of human safety signifies that success lies not within the variety of useless, however in considerably decreasing deaths, massacres and growing considerably peoples’ liberties and rights,” Petro added.
His authorities heralded a change in mentality and techniques, Petro stated, with enemy dying tolls ceasing to be a purpose for the promotion of safety personnel.
The president named Normal Helder Fernan Giraldo as commander of the armed forces, Normal Luis Mauricio Ospina to direct the military and Vice-Admiral Francisco Hernando Cubides to move the Navy.
Normal Luis Carlos Cordoba will direct the Air Power and Normal Henry Armando Sanabria the nationwide police.
Petro pledged throughout his marketing campaign that troopers accused of human rights violations will stand trial in common courts, relatively than army ones.
He has additionally promised to take away the police from the protection ministry and dismantle its ESMAD riot squad, which lately got here beneath worldwide criticism for its position in protester deaths.
The Andean nation’s inner armed battle of just about 60 years left round 450,000 useless between 1985 and 2018 alone.
Petro has stated the drug conflict is a failure and known as throughout his inaugural speech this week for a brand new worldwide technique to battle trafficking.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Modifying by Rosalba O’Brien)
