US army investigates reports that soldiers raped dozens in Colombia | World news | The Guardian

4.9.15

US army investigates reports that soldiers raped dozens in Colombia | World news | The Guardian: US army investigates reports that soldiers raped dozens in Colombia | World news | The Guardian - The allegations resurfaced recently after they were included in a chapter of an 800-page report about the historical reasons behind Colombia’s 50-year-old internal conflict, commissioned by the Colombian government and leftist Farc rebels who are engaged in peace talks.

The author of the chapter on the role in the conflict of the United States – which has provided more than $9bn in mostly military aid to Colombia since 2000 – wrote that there was “abundant information about the sexual violence” by US servicemen and civilian contractors in towns near the Tolemaida military base in Tolima province. The alleged crimes have gone unpunished “thanks to bilateral agreements and diplomatic immunity granted to officials of the United States”, wrote Renán Vega, a professor of history.

“In one of the most publicized cases ... 53 minors were sexually abused by mercenaries who filmed them and sold the recordings as pornographic material,” Vega, of the National Pedagogical University in Bogotá, wrote.