Amount of extra judicial executions appears to have grown

During the last six years the statistics have shown a rapid increase in the number of homicides in which members of the armed forces, the police and the DAS (national intelligence service), are allegedly linked to. The most recent report of the Human rights unit at the prosecutor general’s office points at this. This document shows that in 2001 only one case was registered; in 2002 there were seven cases; then 21 in 2003; 47 in 2004; 73 in 2005; 122 in 2006, and finally 245 in 2007. This year 16 of these cases, of civil citizens being killed by possible state agents, have been denounced.

Of the total of investigations that are taking place at the moment, 685 point to members of the national military forces, 32 to the police and four have to do with members of the DAS.