A/HRC/7/39 page 11 Code.27 Adjustments were also made to adopt the accusatory system within the Military Criminal Justice. Other Army measures included the deployment of operational legal advisers; the strengthening of internal controls; the reinforcement of its human rights offices; and training on the application of guidelines for personnel who are the “primary responsible authority” to preserve evidence for the Attorney General’s Office. 23. There is an abundance of guidelines within the military, and an expanded policy of training in human rights and international humanitarian law. Nevertheless, there is still much to be done towards the effective implementation of these principles within the security forces. 24. The office in Colombia continues to receive complaints of extrajudicial executions attributed to the security forces. Some common characteristics of the complaints are the following: the victims are represented as having being killed in combat; the scene of the crime has been tampered with before the bodies were identified; and often investigations have been initiated by the Military Criminal Justice system. Official investigations reveal that the underlying motives in several of these cases may be related to pressure on the military to show results, or to false claims of success in action by certain members of the security forces to obtain benefits and recognition. 25. The complaints also indicate that the victims included some who might have been linked to new illegal armed groups, such as in Toluviejo in June 2007, where six young men, apparently recruited by unidentified persons, were found dead several days later and were reported as having been killed in combat in Chinú, Córdoba, by the Unified Action Group for Personal Liberty (GAULA) of Army Brigade 11. 26. It is urgent to identify internal obstacles so that the policies described above can become fully operative. There is also a need to make progress in the review, design and implementation of new models of tactical training to be used at the level of operative units, and to analyse lessons learned. 27. At the same time, OHCHR welcomes the decision taken by the military leadership regarding the June 2007 incident in Balsillas, Caquetá, when two soldiers shot six people (including a minor). The immediate reaction of the military commanders was to send the case to the civilian jurisdiction, where the soldiers were tried and sentenced in just three months. 28. If extrajudicial executions are to be totally eradicated, the Attorney General’s Office and the control agencies need to have greater commitment. The Attorney General’s Office has created a special unit to conduct investigations of extrajudicial executions. The complexity and dimensions of this problem require the allocation of sufficient technical and budgetary resources, and appropriate training for the investigation team. 27 In July, Congress approved a reform to the Military Criminal Code that did not exclude all human rights violations and serious breaches of international humanitarian law from the military jurisdiction, as required by international norms. President Alvaro Uribe objected to this provision. A final decision by the Constitutional Court is pending. See Republic of Colombia, Diario Oficial, Year CXLIII, 46,706 (31 July 2007).

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