First modification:
The entity, which is in charge of clarifying what happened during the armed conflict in the country, denounced the theft of two recorders and a computer in the house of one of its investigators. The incident occurred after an interview with Dairo António Úsuga David, alias ‘Otoniel’, former leader of the Clan del Golfo criminal gang, who had agreed to speak about the armed group’s relations with the security forces.
On Friday, January 18, the Truth Commission reported that unidentified persons had entered the home of Eduardo Andrés Celis Rodríguez, an investigator who days before had conducted a four-hour interview together with the Truth Commissioner, Alejandro Valencia, to alias ‘Othniel’.
The stolen material includes a computer and two recorders, which Valencia later explained, contained the four hours of interview with alias ‘Otoniel’, former head of the Clan del Golfo, considered the largest criminal gang in the country, with extensive drug trafficking networks. .
The interview with the leader of this organization, arrested in October 2021, did not go unnoticed in the country, especially when it was learned that he had agreed to testify before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, in charge of judging crimes committed during the Colombian armed conflict. .
The @ComisionVerdadC rejects and denounces this fact that threatens one of its officials and the work of clarifying the armed conflict in the country and asks the competent authorities to diligently and effectively investigate the facts. https://t.co/1TQ1mpV5V0
— Truth Commission (@CommisionVerdadC) February 19, 2022
Úsuga David appeared before the Truth Commission to give his version of the conflict in the Urabá region (northeast of the country) and his role in drug trafficking and said he had information on the relationship between the security forces and criminal gangs in the territory. According to local media, his statements could help clarify relations between the security forces as well as politicians and businessmen with the Clan del Golfo and its drug trafficking networks.
Currently, Úsuga David has 122 arrest warrants and six convictions in Colombia, two of which are between 40 and 50 years in prison, for charges of aggravated homicide, homicide of a protected person, forced disappearance, forced displacement and recruitment. offense of minors.
Truth Commission: “information is assured”
After what happened, the Truth Commission rejected and denounced the robbery and the search of Celis Rodríguez’s house, assuring that the fact “attempts against one of its officials and against the work of clarifying the armed conflict in the country.” He also asked that the authorities “diligently and effectively investigate the facts” and protection for their officials and for the information they obtain in their investigations.
In an interview in the local media W Radio, Valencia indicated that “the information is assured”, since there were copies of what the recorders contained, but he asked that the meetings with the detainee be accelerated, because a request weighs on him. of extradition from the United States and said that the Commission is interested in continuing with the meetings, which have been held since last February 14, “so that the information does not leave the country”.
In other statements, to Caracol Radio, the commissioner denounced “an interest” in knowing what ‘Otoniel’ told the Commission and criticized what he considered to be “a message of intimidation” towards the workers of the entity and towards Colombian society. “They are giving us to understand that they do not want the real truths of the armed conflict to be known,” he said.
“This robbery is not accidental and even more so when it was known yesterday that his lawyers requested before the JEP (Special Jurisdiction for Peace) to be accepted to speak about the relations between the Clan del Golfo and the Public Force,” he added.
For its part, the Office in Colombia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights rejected “the serious facts denounced, which put at risk the rights to integrity and life of those who make up the Commission and the right of the victims to the true”.
Suspension of an audience with ‘Otoniel’ for “leakage”
On February 17, the detainee’s defense had reported that the Police had violently entered the cell where alias ‘Otoniel’ was while he was talking with Commissioner Valencia and his partner. They indicated that the uniformed men had forced them to leave the cell where the interview was taking place.
The Police also reported the interruption of the hearing, assuring that it was due to reasons of “security of the accused”, after, according to the public entity, there was a leak about the place where the detainee was, and indicated that he had received information that the Gulf Clan was trying to free him.
“These procedures must be carried out under the strictest security measures, given the profile of this criminal, who was not only the main leader of the Clan del Golfo, but also the most wanted drug trafficker on the planet. The security protocols were violated when irresponsible, the exact description of the place of detention of this individual was made public,” police said in a statement.
The drug trafficker’s lawyers also denounced that since the beginning of the contact of alias ‘Otoniel’ with the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and the Truth Commission they have evidenced “a hostile environment” by members of the public force. They also complained about the lack of conditions to carry out the hearings before the Commission with guarantees of “confidentiality and privacy.”
With EFE and local media