A tribunal in Colombia has sentenced a former paramilitary leader, Salvatore Mancuso, to 40 years in prison for murders and forced disappearances committed at the height of the country's armed conflict.
Mancuso was a commander in the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC), a right-wing paramilitary group initially created to defend landowners from Marxist guerrillas, which later became involved in drug trafficking.
The tribunal found that under his command, AUC members committed more than 100 crimes in the La Guajira province between 2002 and 2006.
Mancuso was returned to Colombia in 2024 after serving 15 years in the US for drug trafficking.
The 61-year-old was sentenced by a special tribunal set up to address issues stemming from Colombia's long-standing armed conflict, which resulted in at least 450,000 deaths between 1985 and 2018.
The tribunal stated that Mancuso's 40-year sentence could be reduced to eight years if he agreed to engage with transitional justice and participated in reparative activities.
Mancuso's name has become emblematic of the atrocities perpetrated by the AUC during the 90s and early 2000s.
Under his leadership, the AUC specifically targeted members of the indigenous Wayuu community in La Guajira, documenting 117 graves and identifying murders, forced disappearances, and other acts of violence.
Indigenous populations found themselves caught in the crossfire of warring factions, with Marxist rebels forcibly recruiting children and the AUC retaliating against those they suspected of siding with them.
The AUC signed a peace deal with the Colombian government in 2005; however, splinter groups refused to disarm and continued their involvement in drug trafficking.
Mancuso was extradited to the US in 2008 and convicted for smuggling cocaine in efforts to arm a paramilitary force of over 30,000 fighters.
Upon serving his sentence in the US, Mancuso sought to relocate to Italy but was deported back to Colombia, where he offered to testify about political and elite collusion with the AUC, leading to criticism from human rights groups.
