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Colombia to investigate sex abuse accusations against U.S. soldiers

Xinhua, May 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

Colombia said it will investigate the allegations that U.S. soldiers have sexually abused 53 minors in the Latin American country, local media reported Wednesday.

A report released in February stated that at least 53 girls were raped by the U.S. soldiers between 2003 and 2007 near Tolemaida military base in Central Colombia.

The 809-page report said that the U.S. officers raped the minors and filmed their acts, and then sold the recordings as pornographic materials.

Historian Renan Vega Cantor, who worked on the report, said on Tuesday "impunity is possible thanks to bilateral agreements and diplomatic immunity of U.S. officials."

As part of "Plan Colombia", a program against drug trafficking and left wing guerrilla forces, a U.S. military and diplomatic aid team has been stationed there for more than a decade.

The U.S. military has denied the rape of a 12-year-old girl in 2007 highlighted in the report, despite compelling evidence and witness statements that verified the allegations, local media said. Endi