The
Archbishop of Cali and former Bishop of Apartado (Antioquia), Mgr. Isaias
Duarte, was killed in the Aguablanca District of Cali on 16 March, 2002.
The driver of his vehicle and the priest Joaquin Cortes were wounded in
the incident. The Archbishop was well-known for his strong criticisms
of the unlawful armed groups and drug-trafficking, and he had excommunicated
the Eln guerrillas responsible for the kidnap of the worshippers of La
Maria church in 1999.
The Prosecution Service´s Human Rights Unit investigated the case
and in April issued a warrant for the arrest without bail of Alexander
de Jesus Zapata and Carlos Augusto Ramirez aka El Calvo, for homicide
with intent. They also issued a warrant for the preventive detention John
Fredy Jimenez, aka Basilio as an accomplice to the murder of the Archbishop,
for crimes of homicide with intent concurrently with carrying unlicensed
arms for self-defense and rebellion. Jimenez took the option of pleabargaining
The
Archbishop of Cali and former Bishop of Apartado (Antioquia), Mgr. Isaias
Duarte, was killed in the Aguablanca District of Cali on 16 March, 2002.
The driver of his vehicle and the priest Joaquin Cortes were wounded in
the incident. The Archbishop was well-known for his strong criticisms
of the unlawful armed groups and drug-trafficking, and he had excommunicated
the Eln guerrillas responsible for the kidnap of the worshippers of La
Maria church in 1999.