Colombia students honour ‘false positives’ victims

Activists in Colombia's capital commemorated International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances by taking dozens of pairs of rubber boots to a public square and laying m out in a rectangular shape.

Some laid down inside rectangle and used ir bodies to make number 6,402, in allusion to number of people who were allegedly kidnapped by Colombian soldiers, executed and presented as dead rebels, as Colombian army fought guerrilla groups in first decade of this century.

so-called "false positive" cases are among many war crimes that are currently under investigation in Colombia, following a 2016 peace deal between government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that ended decades of war.

In March, Special Jurisdiction for Peace, a tribunal created by peace accords, said that 6,402 civilians were killed by soldiers and presented as enemy combatants between 2002 and 2008.

During that time, soldiers and officers were encourd by ir superiors to kill greater numbers of rebel fighters, in exchange for promotions and vacation time.

Protesters in Bogota said that y would like to see those who killed civilians, or covered up murders of civilians to be brought to justice.

"Our mess is that something like this should never happen again," said Rafael Orozco, protest's organizer.

"This cant happen, and we cant allow institutions to commit such crimes."

Beatriz Mendez, whose son was killed by soldiers and presented as a rebel fighter in 2004, said that she went to protests to make sure that his death, and that of or youths, would be remembered.

"We are here to speak for m. If y longer have a voice we will speak for m" Mendez said.

International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances was created in 2010 by United Nations, as number of cases of forced disappearances rose around world.