U.S. soldiers raped Colombian girls near Tolemaida Air Base

At least 53 Colombian children were raped years ago by soldiers and security employees of the United States stationed in Colombia. Soldiers and employees recorded the abuses and sold the videos as pornographic material. This is the conclusion of a report titled “Report of the Historical Commission of Conflict and Its Victims” that denounces abuses carried out by US forces in the South American country. This study of 809 pages, was published in February as the conclusion of a comprehensive investigation carried out by 12 experts commissioned by the Colombian government, six selected by the Government and six by the FARC. The report saw the day of light during peace talks held between government officials and the FARC in Havana, Cuba. In the section produced by Renan Vega Cantor, Professor of the Department of Social Sciences of the National Pedagogical University, he details the abuses that were committed in the towns of Melgar and Girardot, near the military base of Ptolemais. In these two locations, US soldiers abused at least 53 minors, “also filmed and sold the tapes as pornography,” according to Vega’s report. Also in Melgar, an employee charged with safety and a US sergeant, whose name was not provided, raped a 12 year old girl in 2007, says the report, which does not specify the dates on which the other abuses occurred. Vega says that there is “plenty of information on sexual violence and impunity” that the US committed in Colombia. Such actions, he says, qualify as “sexual imperialism” which “is part of a sexist and discriminatory behavior.” This impunity is possible “thanks to bilateral agreements and diplomatic immunity for US officials,” said the university professor. “So much for the activities carried out by Americans, and their immune status, contribute to the insecurity of the population in conflict zones, but also in other areas where soldiers and employees are in contact with the civilian population” concludes Vega. The professor also notes that, beyond these direct sexual assault, “there are rape and sexual violence cases committed by the Colombian Army,” as reflected in an interview with an intelligence officer of the Navy that is included in the report. “I infiltrated a girl into guerilla territory by placing a GPS device in her vagina,” the official quoted in the report. The Professor of the National Pedagogical University also mentions that there have been “other serious cases involving soldiers and mercenaries” that include “murder, drug trafficking and arms sales to paramilitaries.” This information is part of the section titled “The international dimension of the social and armed conflict in Colombia: US interference, counterinsurgency and state terrorism“. In it, Vega provides an analysis on the role of the United States in the armed conflict in Colombia over the past fifty years. The text begins with documentation on the relations between the two countries from the time when Colombia gained independence from Spain and makes a historical journey for the period of the Cold War that marked the second half of the twentieth century. Read the rest below at the source link