Report massacres in Colombia
Bogotá, April 1 (RHC) – The massacres and killings of social leaders in Colombia increased in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz) announced today.
According to the Observatory for Human Rights and Conflicts in Indepaz, 48 leading figures and human rights defenders were murdered from January to March this year, a number higher than the 42 in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, from March 1 to March 30, 2022, 27 massacres killed 94 people in total, while there were 23 massacres killed 84 people in the same period of 2021.
The Indepaz Observatory said there was a slight decrease in the killings of ex-guerrillas who signed the peace in this first quarter: 11 from 14 last year.
Colombia is experiencing a spiral of violence that, in addition to the systematic murder of company leaders, ex-guerrillas in the process of reintegration and massacres, also includes bomb attacks, such as those in Bogotá that killed two children.
Added to this is the murder of 11 people in Puerto Leguízamo (Putumayo), allegedly carried out by the army and even described by Defense Minister Diego Molano and the country’s President, Iván Duque, as “victims” of the dissidence of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (the false positive modality).
In this latest event, according to testimony relaying the details to Contagion Radio, the military murdered people enjoying a bazaar where funds were being raised for community activities, and the army began shooting, killing several and others attempting to leave the site to leave, some by land or by jumping into the river.
The troops finished off the people in the water, paying no attention to the injured, and several of them died in front of the soldiers. One of the victims is indigenous governor Pablo Panduro Coquinche.
According to complaints and reports from Contagio Radio, the military attempted to fix the crime scene to justify the killings and implanted rifles to ensure the dead belonged to the so-called “border commandos”, but the implanted weapons were nowhere near the corpses of the dead.
On the other hand, the military forces did not allow the family members of the people who were in the community bazaar to enter and tried to hide what was going on there.