Fifty-eight individuals have been killed throughout anti-government protests that started in Colombia 5 weeks in the past and have additionally led to roadblocks and clashes with police, the nation’s human rights ombudsman mentioned Monday.
In a report introduced to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the ombudsman workplace additionally mentioned it had acquired greater than 400 allegations of human rights violations throughout the protests that began April 28, together with instances of police beatings, arbitrary detentions and sexual abuses of protesters in police custody.
Colombia’s police have come below scrutiny from human rights teams for his or her conduct throughout the protests, in which movies have proven police taking pictures at protesters or standing by whereas armed civilians fired at demonstrators.
The state of affairs prompted a delegation from the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights to go to Colombia this week, the place it would meet with authorities officers, protest victims and organizations which have accused the police of utilizing extreme pressure throughout the protests.
The delegation mentioned Monday that it’s going to ship suggestions for the federal government to observe up on on the finish of its go to. It may additionally arrange an impartial fee of consultants to trace progress on human rights points.
According to Temblores, a human rights group primarily based in Bogota, police have been straight concerned in 45 deaths throughout the protests.
Human Rights Watch says it has documented 9 instances in which police killed protesters with gunfire and 4 different instances in which cops killed protesters utilizing tear fuel canisters and different units designed to manage crowds. The watchdog group says it’s trying into dozens extra instances of alleged police killings.
Colombia’s lawyer normal has mentioned it’s investigating police involvement in at the least three deaths of protesters and has launched a probe right into a current incident in town of Cali throughout which officers protected armed civilians that shot at demonstrators.
On Sunday, President Ivan Duque introduced a proposal to reform Colombia’s police forces that features placing physique cameras on officers and making a human rights directorate throughout the police to hunt outdoors recommendation on insurance policies. The authorities additionally mentioned it would enhance strategies by which residents can file complaints.
Protesters, nevertheless, have mentioned they need cops positioned below the jurisdiction of civilian courts. Officers who commit crimes whereas on obligation in Colombia are presently judged by navy tribunals, which are sometimes staffed by their very own friends.
The present wave of protests began over a plan to extend taxes. The authorities withdrew the plan, however the protests have continued, fueled by rising inequality and unemployment throughout the pandemic.
Protest leaders are demanding a brand new set of social and financial insurance policies that embody a primary earnings plan for poor households and extra spending on public training. They additionally need the police to be transferred from the Ministry of Defense to the Ministry of the Interior.
Negotiations between protest leaders and the federal government have been sluggish to get off the bottom. On Sunday, a gaggle of unions and associations that has spearheaded the protests walked away from talks with the federal government over Duques current determination to ship troopers to 13 cities to take away roadblocks and management violent protests.
The authorities has requested the group to dismantle and reject roadblocks which have induced meals shortages in some components of the nation and compelled factories to cease working.
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