jul 15, 1997 - Maripiripan Massacre

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On July 15th 1997, a massacre of significant scale took place in the municipality of Mapriripan, perpetrated by the AUC (autodefensas unidas de Colombia) a right wing paramilitary group that emerged as a response to the rising prevalence of the FARC and ELN. The massacre involved the indiscriminate killing of civilians in the rural village who were accused of being communist sympathisers. The massacre was one of tremendous brutality, involving torture, and murders by chainsaw, with the bodies being disposed of in the river. Although the total number of people killed is unknown, estimations from the US state department places the death toll at around 30. Additionally, the Colombian army later admitted complicity for the massacre through omission, with general Jaime Uscategui ordering his troops to stay away from the area until the paramilitaries had left. Uscategui would later be sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2009

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