The representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia demanded on Wednesday that those responsible for the military operation in late March that resulted in the death of eleven people, including at least four civilians, who were presented by the government be killed. guerrillas who fell in battle.
“We recommend that all disciplinary and criminal measures be taken to prosecute and punish those responsible for the events in Alto Remanzo,” said Juliet de Rivero, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
On March 29, army men raided the community, on the border with Ecuador and Peru, in the prefecture of Putumayo (southeast), where a three-day trade fair was under way with about 100 residents.
According to Ms De Rivero, the military operation had “eleven dead and five wounded”. The army “used firearms while 30 to 50 people were in the open market, including women and children,” he added.
The ombudsman’s office, the human rights NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) and indigenous organizations say at least four civilians were among the victims: a minor, an indigenous ruler, a community leader and his pregnant wife.
In early April, the Colombian government declared the military operation “legal” and accused the victims of being dissidents of the former Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) rebels, which rejected the 2016 peace deal.
“It was a legitimate operation, which was planned for more than five months based on information from the intelligence services,” Defense Minister Diego Molano told the press.
According to the Minister of Defense, the so-called guerrillas “intimidate and threaten” in this community that counts, according to him, “over 220,000 acres” of coca crops, the plant whose leaves are the raw material in the process of cocaine production.
The UN also demanded that authorities guarantee the protection of eyewitnesses and journalists – some of whom have received threats after publishing reports and articles on the case.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (ECHR), for its part, called for an investigation into the incident and demanded that the state avoid “stigmatizing victims.”
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