Colombian rebels sentenced to lengthy jail terms, lashings for murder of 2 Indians

BOGOTA, Colombia – Five leftist guerrillas were sentenced to at least 40 years in jail for the murder of two members of an indigenous tribe in Colombia.

The sentence was handed down Sunday at an assembly of Nasa Indians on their self-governed reservation in the southwestern department of Cauca.

It's up to Colombia's prison authority to enforce the sentence.

Two minors who participated in the attack received 20 lashes but were spared jail time.

The tribe members were killed last week as they were removing banners in support of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

As word of the killings spread, some 300 tribesman pursued the killers armed with little more than wooden staffs.

Human rights groups say 40 members of indigenous tribes have been killed this year in Colombia, many by guerrillas.