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Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo announced on Friday that 10 Army officers were removed from active duty as part of an investigation by “The alleged irregular use of military intelligence capabilities.”
In addition, the minister stated that a brigadier general requested his voluntary retirement. EL TIEMPO learned that the soldier who asked for his departure was General Eduardo Quirós, who until last year was the command chief of the Army’s Military Counterintelligence Combat Support.
Without giving names or stating the specific case for the withdrawals, Minister Trujillo assured that these measures were taken due to internal investigations that have been carried out for several months and of which the Prosecutor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office have already been informed.
He said that the General Command of the Military Forces has a disciplinary investigation open and delegated to the General Inspectorate of the Military Forces so that they verify the processes and protocols with which intelligence work is currently being carried out in the security forces. Likewise, he pointed out that on January 13, he reported the investigation to the Office of the Attorney General and to the Attorney General, so that these organizations could carry out their investigations.
Those first inquiries were made after the known complaints a few months ago about alleged follow-ups from the Army to political leaders, magistrates and journalists.
The magazine Semana published yesterday a complaint in which it talks about alleged computer monitoring and alleged “profiles” from the Army to 130 journalists, politicians, NGOs and trade unionists. These would be folders open to people about whom there would be interests to know their movements and contacts.
Among the people profiled are Colombian and foreign journalists who have been irregularly analyzed by intelligence units. Data also appears from ex-military personnel and even from former Secretary General of the Presidency Jorge Mario Eastman.
And although these folders would have information obtained apparently from open media, the reasons why this type of work would have been ordered with people without judicial requirements or links to crimes and who have protection from their sources of information are striking. Doubts also arise regarding the financing of these activities.
The defense minister assured yesterday that changes were also made to the Army command structure, in the staffs, directorates and operating units, in order to “streamline and improve intelligence operations and processes.”
He also said that a review of military intelligence capabilities was made, as well as the procedures they are developing, “in order to eradicate the execution of practices that could be contrary to the intelligence law, violate the rights of natural persons or legal and injure the good name of the institution.
And he added: “The Public Force has and will have the support and respect of Colombians, as long as it continues to act with transparency, which is the source of its legitimacy and the support of public opinion.”
In the press conference, which took place at the Superior War College, the commander of the Military Forces, General Luis Fernando Navarro, participated. who said that in the review on what was the use that some dependencies were doing of the intelligence work, more than 100 participated experts in “different specialties of military intelligence, accompanied by national and international validators”.
Criminal and disciplinary investigations
The complaints of alleged illegal follow-ups from the Army have chapters in the entities of criminal and disciplinary investigation.
The Office of the Prosecutor carries out a disciplinary trial against General Quirós because presumably he would have exceeded his functions by carrying out alleged counterintelligence activities.
On the other hand, in January of this year, The Prosecutor’s Office asked the delegate before the Supreme Court to investigate General Nicacio Martínez, former Army commander, for the allegations of alleged illegal activities from two battalions.
JUSTICE
