Palace of Justice siege

Palace of Justice siege
Part of Colombian armed conflict
A Colombian Police Bell 212 deploying troops on the roof of the Palace of Justice during the siege
Date 6–7 November 1985 Location Palace of Justice, Bogotá, Colombia Result Colombian government victory. Destruction of the building. Creation of the AFEUR unit.
Belligerents
Colombian government	M19
Commanders and leaders
Gen. Miguel Vega Uribe Gen. Augusto Moreno Guerrero Gen. Rafael Samudio Molina Gen. Víctor Alberto Delgado Mallarino Col. Alfonso Plazas Vega	Luis Otero Cifuentes †[1]
Units involved
Colombian Army National Police Department of Security	Ivan Marino Ospina Company
Strength
~1000 2 squadrons of 4 EE-9 Cascavel	35 3 vehicles
Casualties and losses
11 killed	33 killed
43 civilians killed 11 missing[2]

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The Palace of Justice siege was a 1985 attack on the Supreme Court of Colombia, in which members of the leftist M-19 guerrilla group took over the Palace of Justice in Bogotá and held the Supreme Court hostage, intending to hold a trial against President Belisario Betancur. The guerrilla group called themselves the "Iván Marino Ospina Company" after an M-19 commander who had been killed by the Colombian military on 28 August 1985.^[1] Hours later, after a military raid, the incident had left almost half of the twenty-five Supreme Court Justices dead.^[3][4]

Luis Otero was in charge of directing the military aspects of the siege.^[5]