| El Aro massacre | |
|---|---|
| Location | municipality of Ituango, Antioquia Colombia |
| Date | October 22, 1997 |
| Attack type | shooting, mass murder, massacre |
| Weapon(s) | small arms |
| Deaths | 15 |
| Perpetrator(s) | United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) |
El Aro massacre (Spanish: Masacre del Aro) was a massacre in Colombia occurred on October 22, 1997 in the municipality of Ituango, Department of Antioquia. Ituango is a town and Municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia. Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. Events 202 BC - Hannibal Barca, leader of the Carthaginians, is defeated by the Roman legions under Scipio Africanus Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Shooting is the act or process of firing Rifles Shotguns or other projectile Weapons such as bows or Crossbows Even the firing of This article deals with mass killings that are not considered Genocide. Small arms is a term used by the Armed forces to refer to Infantry Weapons such as the Firearms that an individual soldier can carry The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia ( Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC, in Spanish) were formed in April 1997 as an umbrella Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. Events 202 BC - Hannibal Barca, leader of the Carthaginians, is defeated by the Roman legions under Scipio Africanus Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Ituango is a town and Municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia. 15 leftist supporters of the FARC were massacred by paramilitary groups with support of members of the Colombian army. Paramilitarism in Colombia refers to the origin and development of Paramilitary groups in Colombia during the 20th century Perpetrators also violated women, burned down 43 houses, stole cattle and forcedly displaced 900 people. [1][2]
The Third Section of the Council of State determined that the Colombian government was responsible for the massacre and ordered to pay damages to the victims' families. [3]
On November 23, 2008, Colombian President, Alvaro Uribe announced that there was a witness to the massacre that was involving him as one of the masterminds along General Ospina, General Rosso and paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso. Events 800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Álvaro Uribe Vélez ('alβ̞aɾo u'ɾiβ̞e 'β̞eles born July 4 1952 in Medellín) is a Colombian politician and lawyer who is currently the 39th President Rosso josé Serrano Cadena was born on August 30, 1942 in Vélez, Colombia. Salvatore Mancuso Gómez also known as " el Mono Mancuso "" Santander Lozada " or " Triple Cero " among other names (born The witness, a former member of the paramilitary group later identified as Francisco Enrique Villalba Hernández[4] said that "Uribe had thank them for the massacre because they had help freed 6 hostages, including one of his cousins and that Uribe's brother had lend 20 paramilitary members for the crime" and that they had met in the town of La Cuacana to plan the massacre. [5][6]
Uribe answered that these declaration showed inconsistencies because involved an official in the supposed meeting that had died months prior to the events. Uribe mentioned that "since 1988 public officials knows where I've been, where I have slept and with whom I have met". Uribe was Governor of Antioquia between 1995 and 1997 during which a program of legal paramilitary groups known as CONVIVIR were formed to combat the guerrillas. Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar CONVIVIR was a national program of cooperative neighbourhood watch groups created by a February 11 1994 decree of Colombia's Ministry of Defense and a law passed in [7][8]
Uribe was also questioned by congressman Gustavo Petro about the use of a Department of Antioquia government owned helicopter that was allegedly used to transport the paramilitaries to the region of El Aro to perpetrate the massacre. Gustavo Petro Urrego (born April 19, 1960 in Zipaquirá, Cundinamarca) is a Colombian leftist Politician member of Uribe denied these claims saying that all the helicopters had a recorded flight history. He was also questioned a beeper message intercepted to one of the paramilitaries involved in the massacre that said "Te recuerdo llamar al Gobernador. A pager (sometimes called a beeper) is a simple personal Telecommunications device for short messages Preséntame y que yo lo visito en la tarde" (I remind you to call the governor. Introduce me and I will visit him in the afternoon). Uribe defended himself from these claims saying that the criminals could have used the term "governor" as a slang to refer to anything. [9]
Imprisoned paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso affirmed that these people had died in combat and were not civilians, but guerrillas. Mancuso was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison for the massacre. [10][11][12]