“Has been tortured and the boys too. We have had our nails ripped off, burned with acid, stabbed, punched and others. I wouldn’t want to explain this, but it’s the reality. They must report to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and put pressure on the Colombian government for our repatriation. “
This harsh story is part of one of the letters they have sent to their relatives, from the Port-au-Prince prison (Haiti), former Colombian military linked to the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7.
(We suggest reading: The Revelations of Those Who Went to Haiti with Commandments and Returned)
In the letters, five known to this newspaper, the captured make a distressing call for the due process and their right to defense to be complied with, claiming that reality has been manipulated.
TIME, in response to calls from relatives who are afraid of retaliation against their loved ones in Haiti, refrains from publishing the names of those who sent the letters.
The anguish is great because although the 18 Colombians have been deprived of their liberty for 56 days, they have not yet been charged, but according to judicial sources consulted by this newspaper, they are facing a process that could end with sentences of up to 60 years in prison or even life imprisonment.
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The same sources stated that the Haitian military took the statement from the retired military “with an interpreter the mastery of Spanish apparently was not very good and the delivered versions were transcribed on sheets of paper, written by hand with a pencil “.
‘We slept between human excrement’
In the letters they thank the support of their families, mention their wives, children and parents, among others, and agree to make known the abuse they have received and the precarious conditions in which they are in their place of imprisonment. .
“We only received one meal a day and slept between human excrement, rats and beetles,” says one of the captured, noting that “we’ve been in prison for two months, we haven’t talked to any lawyers (…), no we have due process and we will not have a fair trial. “
(We invite you to read: Defensoria will ask the IDH Court to take precautionary measures for those captured in Haiti)
In another of the letters, one of the captured refers to the day they were captured and the treatment they received. “They took us to jail, we’ll be tied up for 26 days. Some alone, some two, So we went to the bathroom, that’s how we ate. Sometimes we bathed and only went to the bathroom when they (the guards) wanted.”
He relates in the letter that some guardians, whom he describes as “angels of God,” gave them water and helped them bathe on occasion.
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Trial in the United States, an option?
In the letter he narrates that they were changed from prison and that they have a mattress to rest on, but that the 18 are in the same place, “in the band there is a pipe, the smells are only of poop, and the rats, like ants. we are six per cell. “
In another of the letters it is read that the ex-military man is already healing from the blows received. “I hadn’t told you this, when they tortured us, the first month was very hard (…), I’m still in pain; the other comrades were stabbed, burned, stabbed, but thank God they didn’t they were serious, ”the letter reads.
(By context, we suggest you read: ex-military declared that a woman would assume the presidency of Haiti)
Another of those captured says he has been tried on several occasions and claims, like his other comrades, that he was tortured.
In another document, one of the captured soldiers asks his family not to believe everything that is said about them in the media: “Everything is manipulated and accommodated to make us look like culprits.”
They call for the mediation of international human rights organizations and call for the trial against them to take place in the United States and for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to verify their allegations.
(We invite you to read: Haiti: who is who in the web that entangles ex-military?)
One of the relatives who received letters told EL TEMPS that almost two months after the massacre they have not started a trial against Colombians in Haiti, much less a trial, so he calls for the Chancellery to play a more active role. on the subject.
“Of course they could have made a mistake, for me they are innocent until proven otherwise. But they have a right to a fair trial, to a defense as long as their rights are respected. Especially their right to life. “, he pointed out.
On Twitter: @JusticiaET