The 800-page document claims that during an operation called ‘Plan Colombia,’ a diplomatic mission to protect the South American country from drug cartels and Marxist insurgencies, numerous U.S. military personnel committed sex crimes against underage Colombian girls, mostly in and around the town of Melgar.
Despite various reports of sexual abuse, none of the accused were ever prosecuted due to an agreement between the U.S. and Colombian governments.
“There exists abundant information about the sexual violence, in absolute impunity thanks to the bilateral agreements and the diplomatic immunity of United States officials,” said Renan Vega of the Pedagogic University in Bogota, who assisted in the report’s research.
The document cites an incident in 2004 when U.S. military contractors in Melgar allegedly raped 53 underage girls, filmed it, and “sold the films as pornographic material.”
In another 2007 case, which garnered extensive Colombian media coverage, US sergeant Michael J. Coen and defense contractor Cesar Ruiz allegedly drugged and raped a 12-year old girl in a military base, but were never tried due to the US-Colombian Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which gave military personnel diplomatic immunity.
According to Colombia Reports, parties loyal to the suspects coerced the girl and her family into fleeing Melgar for Medellin by threatening and taunting them.
The Colombian journal El Tiempo also reports that there were 23 complaints filed against U.S. officials in 2006 and 13 more in 2007, which were all tossed aside as prosecutors sat with their hands tied.
Rebel forces in Colombia have been in conflict with the government for the past five decades, leaving over seven million victims in their wake, during which time there have been 7,234 reports of Colombian women registering as victims in sex crimes.
