Organizations denounce 59 homicides in a month of protests in Colombia

At least 59 people have died in the protests against the Colombian government that are celebrating a month this Friday, as denounced by the campaign ‘Defend Freedom: an issue for all’, a network of civil, student and human rights organizations that monitors the demonstrations.

“So far this month of protests we have documented 59 homicides, of which 32 were allegedly committed by the public force, the rest could be presumed that they were carried out by unidentified civilians in the framework of the protest,” said this Friday network spokesperson Óscar Ramírez during a press conference.

Two of the documented victims were women, while nine have not been identified or their connection to the protests has not been verified, for which the organizations condemned the use of firearms in the midst of the demonstrations by both the public forces as by civilians.

“The disproportionate use of the public force, the improper use of weapons has left about 866 people injured, 51 of these due to eye injuries and 70 were injured by firearms, a fact that is worrying,” added Ramírez when presenting the balance on the human rights violations that occurred in the National Strike.

They have documented multiple attacks, such as beatings, threats, arbitrary detentions and accusations, against 133 human rights defenders, for which they recommended adopting “expeditious measures to stop the violence committed by agents” of the public force, as well as “the suspension of weapons of reduced lethality that cause serious damage to the civilian population”.

COMPLAINTS AGAINST PUBLIC FORCE

In addition, 87 people have been victims of gender-based violence and, as noted by the Ombudsman’s Office, there have also been two cases of sexual violence, 14 of other cases of sexual violence (inappropriate touching of a sexual nature, threats of sexual violence). , any act that involves affectation of sexual freedom and integrity).

“We denounce the abuse of power, authority and aggressions committed by the public force, of which we have records of at least 1,184 complaints of indiscriminate use of force against houses, non-demonstrators, seniors,” warned Ramírez.

However, according to official figures from the Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Defense, 43 people have died in the month of protests, although only 17 civilian victims and two uniformed people have a direct link with the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, in three of the homicides in which the Police have been accused, members of the institution who are being processed by the Justice were arrested.

Due to the accusations towards Police agents, the Colombian Senate supported the Colombian Defense Minister, Diego Molano, who on Thursday overcame, with a large majority, a motion of censure promoted by opposition congressmen who accused him of being the “politically responsible” for the police violence in the protests.