La Hormiga Massacre On the nights of January 9 and 10, 1999, armed men, alleged members of a self-defense group, arrived in the town of La Hormiga, department of Putumayo. They picked out a number of people living in the area, most of them young persons, and proceeded to murder them. Twenty four people died. In October 1999 the Prosecutor General’s Office indicted one person on charges of complicity in the concurrent crimes of homicide, conspiracy, terrorism and aggravated theft. An appeal against this decision was lodged with the Prosecutor’s Office for the Superior Tribunal of the Judicial District - Backlog of Cases Section. A second-instance decision reversed the indictment and ordered the investigation to be closed in favor of the defendant. The process is still in its preliminary stages.  Senator Manuel Cepeda Vargas of the Patriotic Union On August 9, 1994, Senator Manuel Cepeda Vargas, of the Patriotic Union political party, was assassinated in Bogotá. The Patriotic Union (UP) was formed by demobilized members of the FARC, members of the Communist Party and democratic left-wing sectors, following the 1984 peace agreements of La Uribe. The Prosecutor General’s Office launched an investigation of five individuals, among other of Carlos and Héctor Castaño-Gil, self-defense-group leaders, and issued a number of arrest warrants. An inquiry was ordered into the conduct of the Castaño brothers, who were accused in absentia. Two non-commissioned Army officers were linked to the case. Two of the suspected perpetrators were murdered, and the Castaño brothers were charged with these crimes. The inquiry was conducted by the Human Rights Unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office. In October 1997 proceedings reached an interim decision, and charges of aggravated homicide were brought against the two non-commissioned officers and Carlos Castaño-Gil. The investigation of Héctor Castaño-Gil and the other two individuals involved lapsed on procedural grounds. In the criminal proceedings, before the end of 1999 the two Army sergeants charged, Justo Gil-Zúñiga and Hernando Medina-Camacho, were found guilty of aggravated homicide by a Special Justice court and sentenced to 43 year’s imprisonment. The case against Carlos Castaño was dropped on procedural grounds. The Prosecutor General’s Office appealed against this decision. A disciplinary investigation was carried out by the Second District Attorney’s Office. In 1996 this Office ruled that the two non-commissioned Army officers involved should be penalized by giving them a severe reprimand. In August 1999 a second-instance decision made by the Military Affairs section of the Attorney General’s Office upheld the penalty. The sergeants concerned were removed from service by the General Commander of the Army, and are now under arrest in the 13th Army Brigade headquarters.