Bogota, April 13 (teleSUR-RHC) The Office of the Attorney General of Colombia said on Sunday that up to 22 army generals are being investigated for their alleged involvement in the killing of thousands of civilians as part of the "false positives" scandal during the presidency of Alvaro Uribe. According to the announcement, the results of the investigation will be presented at the end of the year. Some of the accused generals are still on active while others have already retired.

In the "false positives" scandal – one of the most tragic and horrific episodes in the 50-year armed conflict in Colombia – soldiers recruiting poor and homeless men with the offer of work. Once lured away from their areas, they were executed in remote areas, with military personnel dressing the murdered up in guerrilla uniforms and presented them as combat kills.

These incident began in early 2000 after the Uribe’s far-right government started to put pressure on the military to increase their kill figures, promising cash payments, promotions and perks such as days off for personnel who produced evidence of guerrillas killed in battle.

The Attorney General’s Office says 3,896 non-combatants were killed, however human rights organizations say at least 4,300 were murdered as part of the case. Nearly 4,500 members of the armed forces are implicated but less than 2,000 charged. Out of this, 230 low-level army officials were sent to prison, 1,793 members of the National Army, as well as 26 policemen and two members of the intelligence agency DAS.

This new chapter in the scandal will be closely followed by the delegation of the Revolutionary Armed Forced of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla, which is in Havana holding peace talks with the government of Juan Manuel Santos.