Spain hands over suspect accused of carrying out forced abortions for FARC
Colombian authorities already have man known as “the doctor” in their custody
Spain has handed over to Colombia a man accused of having carried out 300 forced abortions on guerrilla fighters for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in inhumane conditions. Héctor Albeidis Arboleda Buitrago, 41, who was known as “the doctor,” was detained in Madrid in 2015 on suspicion of having performed the procedures, “as a means to not lose [the women] as an instrument of war,” over a period between 1998 and 2004.
He is also accused of having let at least three newborn babies die. The infants were children of indigineous fighters, who were being punished with forced labor for having fallen pregnant.
The Spanish government agreed to extradite the suspect at the end of January in response to a request from Colombia that was sent in March 2015. The Colombian public prosecutor has confirmed that the man has already arrived in Bogota, and has been given a medical inspection before being sent to one of the country’s prisons.
According to the Justice Ministry, Arboleda Buitrago, who has joint Spanish and Colombian nationality, will be tried in Colombia on charges of homicide, attempted homicide, performing unauthorized abortions and unlawful association for the alleged offenses.
Many of the women who were subjected to the abortions were minors, and had fallen pregnant after being raped by superiors. Some died shortly after the procedures after being denied adequate treatment, while the majority were obliged to have abortions against their will, on the basis they would be shot if they refused.
Many of the women who were subjected to the abortions were minors, and had fallen pregnant after being raped by superiors
The women, among whom were more than 50 indigenous girls from the Zabaleta community in Chocó, had been forcibly recruited. In some cases they were forced to have terminations as late as the seventh or eighth month of term.
According to the testimony of at least 19 victims, the procedures were carried out with no anesthetic or proper surgical instruments, and in conditions that completely lacked the proper hygiene.
The majority of the procedures were carried out under a directive from the FARC in which instructions were given that guerrilla fighters who refused to undergo the surgery could be shot.
Spain’s High Court confirmed in December that the suspect would be handed over to Colombia because there “was no doubt” that he forced the women into labor, and “ignored” the babies until “they stopped breathing.” What’s more, it pointed out that the abuse had caused “terrible [physical] conditions,” as well as causing psychological and moral damage to the victims.
English version by Simon Hunter.
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