History of Violence in Columbia "Horrific"

Colombia’s former militia groups have acknowledged killing 21,000 people in the past 22 years, an Attorney General’s Office report obtained Monday by Efe shows.

The report was compiled by the AG’s office’s Justice and Peace Unit, which is responsible for gathering the statements of the 31,000 militiamen who demobilized in the 2003-2007 peace process.

The unit’s director, Luis Gonzalez, told Efe that as of June 16, “21,000 murders have been confessed to by the paramilitaries. It’s horrific.”

What lies ahead is even more “horrendous” because many killings have still not been confessed to, Gonzalez said.

“We documented around 246,000 criminal offenses in the regions where there was a presence” of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, militia federation, the official said.

link: Latin American Herald Tribune - Colombian Militias Acknowledge 21,000 Killings