3 Charged in ’98 Raid on Colombian Village

A helicopter crew accused of bombing a small village in northeastern Colombia, leaving 18 dead, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, the attorney general’s office said Saturday.

Prosecutors decided that the three crew members did not intentionally bomb the village of Santo Domingo in 1998 during a military operation against leftist rebels that was directed by private U.S. contractors working with the Colombian air force.

The crew members, Capt. Cesar Romero, Lt. Johan Jimenez and Sgt. Hector Mario Hernandez, might not face jail time though they might have to pay restitution to the families of the dead, which included seven children. The three will face trial before a civilian judge, a source in the prosecutor’s office said.

“The important thing is that the prosecutors have finally resolved the situation and we are at the beginning of the end of this long process,” the source said.

Lawyers for the men said they would appeal the prosecutor’s decision and insist that a military tribunal hear the charges.

“We’re very happy that this is going to court because we have a lot of evidence that is going to prove that the bomb dropped by the crew of this helicopter did not fall on the town,” said Ernesto Villamizar, Jimenez’s attorney.

The prosecutor’s decision is the strongest indication to date that the bombing was an accident rather than a deliberate attempt to kill civilians.

A videotape of the incident viewed by The Times, however, suggested that other Colombian military aircraft involved in the attack might have continued firing at civilians despite receiving warnings not to do so. The Colombian prosecutor’s office has not filed charges against the crew of any other aircraft.

The bombing, the subject of a Times investigation last year, has become one of Colombia’s most prominent human rights cases. The U.S. suspended all aid to the air force unit involved in the bombing nearly a year ago after determining that military officials were obstructing the investigation.

This year, Air Force Gen. Hector Fabio Velasco resigned, partly as a result of pressure applied by the U.S. ambassador, who was upset over the slow pace of the investigation.

The incident began in December 1998, when Colombian army units, acting on intelligence from U.S. Customs planes, tried to capture a top-ranked guerrilla leader suspected of trafficking drugs. The capture turned into a fierce battle near Santo Domingo, 30 miles south of an oil complex run by Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum.

Court records and testimony show that Oxy lent its facilities, equipment and fuel to the Colombian military, which relied on another U.S. company, Florida-based AirScan Inc., to provide aerial surveillance to plan the mission. AirScan has denied any involvement in the incident, while Oxy officials have said they are unable to confirm or deny their role. Neither company faces any legal charges.

On the videotape, AirScan crew members speaking in English can be heard warning an unidentified Colombian aircraft to stop shooting at civilians.

“This [expletive] is shooting at civilians,” said one contractor, who is trying to guide the operation. He switches suddenly to Spanish: “Stop shooting! Stop shooting!”