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(CNN Spanish) - After the death of the young Dilan Cruz on November 25 because of a shot by a member of the Mobile Riot Squadron (ESMAD) of the Police, during demonstrations against the Government of Iván Duque, the body is in the center of the controversy with many asking that it be dissolved or, at least, that its way of acting be modified.
Created in 1999 under the government of President Andrés Pastrana (1998-2002) and later formalized in the government of President Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010), the objective of ESMAD is to control riots, crowds, blockades and to accompany evictions from public or private spaces, in places where there is an "eventual materialization of terrorist and criminal acts" and restore order.
- Dilan Cruz's death, amid protests in Colombia, was "violent" and a "homicide," says Legal Medicine
A student holds a poster with a photograph of Dilan Cruz, who died after a shot by an ESMAD agent on November 25, 2019. (Credit: RAUL ARBOLEDA / AFP via Getty Images)
Currently the Riot Squadron is governed by international regulations and included in Resolution 02903, which contains the regulations for “the use of force and the use of weapons,” said Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo on Thursday in Bogotá .
Twenty years later, this dependency of the National Police, which is attached to the Ministry of Defense, is made up of some 3,500 police officers distributed in 23 squadrons specialized in riot police, in 17 of the 32 departments of Colombia, and in Bogotá, Medellín and its area metropolitan, and Cúcuta.
The annual budget of the Riot Police is 490,000 million pesos, almost 1.4 million dollars, according to local press.
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“Excessive use of force”
Although the Minister of Defense said that ESMAD acts “when disturbances occur” and can make use of certain “less lethal” weapons, the use of which generates risk, during the anti-government demonstrations in November of this year there were multiple complaints of excessive use of force by the Police.
The Ombudsman's Office expressed its concern "about the excessive use of force by the ESMAD" in the demonstrations in Bogotá, regarding the shooting Dilan Cruz received in a protest in the city center.
Cruz was an 18-year-old boy who was shot in the head by an ESMAD member during a demonstration in downtown Bogotá on November 23. According to the opinion of Legal Medicine, Cruz's death was "violent" and the result of a "homicide": the young man suffered a "penetrating head-brain trauma caused by impact ammunition, fired by a firearm."
The young man would graduate from school the day he died.
ESMAD Riot Squad members stand guard during a protest in Medellin, Colombia, on October 24, 2019. (Credit: JOAQUIN SARMIENTO / AFP via Getty Images)
Human Rights Watch called on the Colombian government to rule against the "excessive use of force by the public force."
The police officer responsible for the shooting was separated from the charge on Sunday, investigations of the case were initiated and the prosecution of the Prosecutor's Office was requested in the investigations. The defense minister said that Cruz's death is "very painful" and that investigations are continuing on this case.
The Ministry of Defense and the Police have defended the actions of the riot squad as a way to maintain order amid protests that have recorded some vandalism.
In a letter from the National Unemployment Committee to Duke, the spokesmen asked the president to "cease all violent action against peaceful demonstrations by the Public Force and, especially" ESMAD. "
President Iván Duque said this week that he will not dismantle this force.
"ESMAD is part of the public force at the service of Colombians, it cannot be dismantled," Duque said on W Radio.
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Demonstrations against ESMAD and in rejection of the death of Dilan Cruz in Bogotá on November 26, 2019. (Credit: RAUL ARBOLEDA / AFP via Getty Images)
The weapons used by ESMAD
Legal Medicine said this week that Cruz was hit by a bean bag type ammunition - a cloth bag containing multiple lead pellets - fired with a 12-gauge shotgun.
In addition to pellet bags, the ESMAD also uses 37 and 40 millimeter gas cartridges, smoke grenades, all of which are known as “less lethal” weapons, according to police.
These are the devices called 'less lethal', with which the #ESMAD fulfills its work. Again we demonstrate to public opinion that @PoliciaColombia is a transparent institution, respectful of Human Rights and IHL. We are a # PoliceParaLaGente. pic.twitter.com/DyH6Un8Eiv
- General Oscar Atehortua D (@DirectorPolicia) November 28, 2019
Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo, a prominent leftist leader, called on the government to ban “immediately” the use of this type of weaponry that was fired at Dilan Cruz, as he says, his strength is “much higher than that of the pellet "and can" make immense destruction ", as happened with Cruz.
"You have to remember that ESMAD is a force to control civil protests," Robledo said. “Dilan was not armed in any way. ESMAD is not supposed to be a state instrument for war. So it is not for ESMAD to use bullets that are bullets more than war, than for other uses.
Trujillo, the defense minister, denied the claims that have circulated during this week that ESMAD uses “unconventional” weapons and said that all weapons used by public forces during protests are endorsed by the UN and the National Police Resolution that regulates this force.
Injuries that can cause weapons
The defense minister told journalists in Bogotá on Thursday that weapons can cause injuries such as penetration or laceration of the skin, may require removal, may lacerate the eyes, generate fractures, concussions, injuries to internal organs, hemorrhages and if the shot It is a short distance away and on the chest, abdomen or head, "these injuries can be fatal."
"As these are less lethal weapons, there is still a risk and the recognition of associated injuries," he added. "Those injuries ... can be fatal."
In the wave of protests that has shaken Latin America in recent months, hundreds of cases of eye trauma have also been recorded in Chile due to the impacts of pellets and tear gas amid the riots. The Carabineros de Chile corps assured that the police do not aim to produce any harm to civilians, but they do not rule out that there are people affected by the action of the pellets.
Regarding stop using these weapons, the director of the Colombian National Police, General Óscar Atheortúa, said that it would be necessary to request the international authorities to modify their protocols for the use of ESMAD weapons and their protocols.
"They would be called to tell us if there is any modification or different analysis because they were made based on reliable studies that you can find in the networks," said Atehortúa.
Upon the death of Dilan, the authorities have said they are awaiting investigations into the complaints against ESMAD and promptly on the death of the 18-year-old who turned the face of the demonstrations in Colombia that have been going on for more than a week.
ESMAD Protests in Colombia