Surveillance Begins

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A Colombian soldier observes a ceremony commemorating the third anniversary of the deaths of 18 people in Santo Domingo. In back, a boy with his face painted white hangs a sign protesting the attack. (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

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Demonstrators march through the town of Tame, Colombia in December on the third anniversary of the bombing of Santo Domingo. About 1,500 people from Tame, Santo Domingo and other nearby communities took part in the march. The sign reads, “the impunity.” (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

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A young woman claps during ceremonies held in Tame to mark the third anniversary of the bombing. The flight crew involved says it targeted a jungle area 1,200 meters north of Santo Domingo. But there is only an open field there now. (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

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With faces painted white, a group of children and teenagers listen to the playing of Colombia’s national anthem. The head of the Colombian Air Force continued to deny that a cluster bomb was used in the attack, even after subordinates in the field duly reported its use to superiors at Air Force headquarters. The Air Force head today says the bombing was the result of a guerrilla car bombing gone awry. (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

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Residents of the town of Santo Domingo, Colombia, relax on a Sunday afternoon in December. Three years ago the Colombian military allegedly bombed this small town, killing 18 civilans, including seven children. (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

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The death toll in the bombing of Santo Domingo three years ago included the brother of these three children visiting a memorial. The Colombian military found that the explosion was caused by a car bomb set up by anti-government guerrillas in the area. After much wrangling, the investigation is back in the hands of the military. (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

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Children in Santo Domingo have depicted the December 13, 1998 attack on their town in a poster. It includes photos of the seven children killed. Its caption reads “A crime against humanity committed by airplanes donated by the U.S., supposedly to fight drugs.” The head of the Colombian Air Force, Gen. Hector Fabio Velasco, threatened to sue the human rights groups that produced the poster, but never followed up on the threat. (ZOE SELSKY / LAT)

AirScan crew decide that there are guerillas in Santo Domingo.

March 6, 2003 1:11 PM PT

The Scene: In this clip, taken shortly after the AirScan plane arrives on the scene, the plane begins scanning Santo Domingo to check and see if there are any guerrillas. The men in the plane decide that there are guerrillas in the town, though they have changed into civilian clothing to avoid being recognized. This contradicts military testimony, in which officers participating in the operation said they did not believe there were guerillas in the town.

The Players: Gavilan (Sparrowhawk): Cessna Skymaster piloted by Barbaro Jose Orta, with Maj. Cesar Gomez and Charles Denny on board. Gomez is link between Skymaster and other Colombian Air Force planes. Denny is controlling video camera.

6:55:15
Orta: South of the bridge are bad guys. The thing is that they are well positioned in the jungle. I told him they are very well embedded in the woods. Right.
Denny: Yeah, I can't see them.
Orta: He can't see them.
Denny: That's nothing but jungle
Orta: That's jungle
Denny: Thick jungle. It's thick jungle until you get down to this little town here.
Orta: We're going to look towards the town, to see what's in the town. Do you want to look in the town, and around the town. Maybe the trucks, maybe they're picking up some wounded G's (guerrillas) or something.
Denny: Yeah, okay
Orta: Or whatever, you know.
Denny: I got four civilians standing in the road down here.
Orta: Hold the fire for a minute.
Denny: I got a bunch of people here, but they're mostly all civilians. I don't see any guerrillas.
Orta: Further down the road there's a group of people off the left wing about a mile and a half. Do you see the collection of folks out there? Look straight off the left wing, the first house, the second house on the left.
Denny: Yeah, they got a little red truck there.
Orta: Yeah. Any G's there?
Denny: I don't see any. They're mostly all civilians. There's one guy that's got his shirt off there, he's wearing dark trousers. Now he's putting his shirt back on.
Orta: Do you want to go over there and check them out..
Denny: Yeah, we can. They look like all civilians, though.
Orta: They seem like all civilians here.
Gomez: Yes. They changed clothes.
Orta: Yeah, they changed, they all changed clothes.
Denny: Probably, butI got about one, two, there's about three or four guys sitting on the side of the road there. On the east side of the road. They're like sitting down.
Orta: That's the problem I think we have here, is that these guys have gone home and changed clothes.
Denny: Yeah, they don't want to fight no more.
6:58:19

Surveillance Begins

AirScan crew decide that there are guerillas in Santo Domingo.

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