On May 24, President Iván Duque said he was appointing an independent commission to review the orders to ensure they did not violate international or human rights law. Toward the end of the hearing, Mr. Botero went before lawmakers to offer a defense, saying that he had always been honest with the government regarding the actions of the military. “You can’t have results in security matters if you don’t observe the Constitution, the law, human rights and international norms,” he said. Last week, Mr. Duque’s allies in Congress gave a rank promotion to General Martínez, despite calls for him to resign. In testimony to the Colombian Senate last week, Mr. Botero said that the number of military operations had expanded during his tenure, up by a third, but that the attacks were “always done with respect for human rights.”

Source: International New York Times June 11, 2019 01:44 UTC