Publicado por 360-grados.co via Verdad Abierta el 9 de junio de 2020.
Sounds the alarm about the growing presence of the Gulf Clan and Pachencas neo-paramilitary groups in three Caribbean coast departments.
June 9, 2020
Local leaders in Monterredondo, Miranda, Cauca, advise FARC ex-combatants at the local reincorporation site that they should displace because of threats received from an unidentified armed group. On June 10, threats force the displacement of 20 ex-combatants from El Diamante, La Uribe, Meta.
June 9, 2020
Publicado por Semana el 8 de junio de 2020.
Reporting on a wave of ELN kidnappings in Arauca and Catatumbo.
June 8, 2020
Published by SSRN on June 5, 2020.
U.S. researchers explore forced disappearance and other security dynamics at the Colombia-Venezuela border region in Norte de Santander department.
June 5, 2020
Publicado por CINEP el 27 de mayo de 2020.
A discussion of mining and environment-related violence with human rights defenders from the Bajo Cauca and southern Bolívar regions.
May 27, 2020
Publicado por la Fundación Ideas para la Paz el 24 de mayo de 2020.
An overview of conflict trends during the first four months of 2020. Notes some decrease in overall violence amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with armed groups enforcing restrictions and social leaders facing even more attacks.
May 24, 2020
Publicado por La Comisión de la Verdad el 20 de mayo de 2020.
A discussion of factors driving the difficult security situation in Cauca department.
May 20, 2020
Publicado por la Comisión de la Verdad el 20 de mayo de 2020.
A discussion of the security and human rights situation in Cauca.
May 20, 2020
Since our last urgent action Colombia’s weekly magazine Semana revealed that between February and December 2019, Colombian army intelligence units carried out illicit surveillance of more than 130 individuals, including human rights defenders, national and international journalists, politicians, labor leaders, and other members of the military. We at WOLA find this to be completely unacceptable . On Tuesday, May 19 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, WOLA is hosting, alongside other human rights organizations, a webinar with several of the persons targeted by this illegal espionage. We encourage you to join us to hear their perspectives and recommendations on what should be done to redress this. In this document, you will find summarized statements made by several civil society groups about this scandal. You can join the webinar by registering here.
Additionally, WOLA produced a short video about the violence faced by social leaders in Colombia. The video asks U.S. authorities to call on the Iván Duque administration to protect social leaders, prioritize investigations of the assassinations, and prioritize full implementation of the peace accords.
We also take this opportunity to update you on developments on the April 25 request to President Duque by Black, Afro-Colombian, Palenquero and Raizal persons asking for the creation of an Afro-Colombian Emergency Fund. The Ministry of Health announced that it will designate a person to manage the COVID-19 emergency in the Colombian Pacific. However, details of who this will be or how this person/office will function are not clear. CONPA and others are asking for that to be determined as soon as possible. It should be done in full consultation with Afro-Colombian authorities. Secondly, a special education plan is required for Afrodescendants living in areas with limited internet capacity. Virtual learning is not reaching most children in shantytowns and rural areas because they do not have computers and/or the technical capacity to access school in this manner. Lastly, CONPA insists that the government advance humanitarian accords with the ELN that provide protection to civilians and communities caught up in conflict. We were disappointed by last week’s developments that run counter to peace in Colombia. Please see our May 14 statement Inaccurate Trump Administration Charges Against Cuba Damage Prospects for Peace Talks in Colombia and Elsewhere.
The following are summaries of the human rights situations and cases we received that require action. We have divided them into three parts: military intelligence scandal, COVID-19 related concerns, and human rights abuses.
Military Intelligence Espionage
Illegal Military Surveillance Targeting Social Leaders
On May 10, the Inter-Ecclesial Commission for Justice and Peace (Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz, CIJP) condemned the illicit surveillance carried out by the Colombian army’s intelligence units on social leaders Luz Marina Cuchumbe and Jani Rita Silva and CIJP staff Father Alberto Franco and Danilo Rueda. They make clear that strong measures must be taken to protect the whistleblowers in this case.
May 19, 2020
Publicado por CINEP el 15 de mayo de 2020.
A discussion about security conditions along the Colombia-Venezuela border.
May 15, 2020
Publicado por El Espectador el 7 de mayo de 2020.
A look at threats faced by social leaders in the Catatumbo region, with a thorough mapping of the security situation and illicit economies in each of 10 municipalities.
May 7, 2020
Publicado por El Espectador el 7 de mayo de 2020.
A panel discusses the security situation amid the coronavirus lockdown in Cauca and Nariño departments.
May 7, 2020
Interior Minister Alicia Arango voices consternation at the security situation in Cauca department. “We don’t know what we’re doing wrong, why this isn’t working,” she says, proposing further military deployments and a system of rewards for informants.
May 6, 2020
Publicado por Semana el 5 de mayo de 2020.
The security and human rights situation amid fighting between armed groups along the Colombia-Venezuela border.
May 5, 2020
Publicado por La Silla Vacía el 1 de mayo de 2020.
A survey of how illegal armed groups are imposing rules and enforcing quarantines during the COVID-19 crisis.
May 1, 2020
The Human Rights Ombudsman’s office (Defensoría) issues an “early warning” alert about armed groups’ activities during the COVID-19 emergency. Between March 23 and April 27, the agency documents 72 threats or other violent acts that groups have justified by claiming enforcement of public health measures. It documents ten cases in which armed groups killed people for violating the quarantine rules that they had put in place. Of 41 violent acts, the Defensoría finds FARC dissidents responsible for 14, the ELN for 11, neo-paramilitary groups 6, the EPL 2, and the rest other organized crime groups or unknown armed actors.
April 30, 2020
Publicado por Verdad Abierta el 30 de abril de 2020.
A summary of findings, from the Ombudsman’s Office’s early warning system, about the dire situation in Puerto López, Puerto Gaitán, and Cabuyaro.
April 30, 2020
Publicado por la Defensoría del Pueblo el 30 de abril de 2020.
An early-warning alert from the human rights ombudsman detailing armed groups’ activities during the first several weeks of COVID-19 response, including violent enforcement of public health measures.
April 30, 2020
Gunmen massacre social leader Álvaro Narváez and three members of his family at their home in rural Mercaderes, Cauca.
April 29, 2020
Publicado por La Silla Vacía el 25 de abril de 2020.
A discussion of peace accord implementation during the time of coronavirus, with María Alejandra Vélez of the Universidad de los Andes, Kyle Johnson of the Kroc Institute, and Juan Carlos Garzón of the Fundación Ideas para la Paz.
April 25, 2020
Publicado por Semana el 21 de abril de 2020.
An update on armed-group activity and illicit economies in the conflictive region of Norte de Santander department, near the Venezuelan border.
April 21, 2020
Eight members of the “Carlos Patiño Front” FARC dissident group are reported dead in Argelia, Cauca, following combat with the Army.
April 15, 2020
Publicado por la Misión de Observación Electoral el 6 de abril de 2020.
An accounting of acts of violence against local political and social leaders around the country. The MOE counts 41 killings of such leaders during the first three months of 2020.
April 6, 2020
Publicado por la Fundación Paz y Reconciliación el 6 de abril de 2020.
A look at recent changes in Colombia’s cocaine market, coca production, armed group participation, and transshipment patterns.
April 6, 2020
