Colombia will investigate the murder of 8 young people 1:39
(CNN Spanish) - More than a figure, it is a true tragedy. Because 16 young people, some children as young as 12, were murdered in less than ten days in southern Colombia, completely defenseless. The departments of Nariño, Cauca and Valle del Cauca were the scenes of these massacres at the hands of illegal armed groups. The common denominator among the victims is that they are minors, regardless of the armed conflict in these areas.
On August 10, Cristián Caicedo and Maicol Ibarra, aged 12 and 17, were murdered when they went to their school to deliver a school assignment. It happened in the town of Santa Lucía, Nariño, according to the relatives of the minors. There were no witnesses and no one explained the reason for their deaths.
“I condemn this fact and the whole world should reject it. Colombia is immersed in the worst of barbarities, ”Martha Peralta Epieyú, president of the Indigenous and Social Alternative Movement (MAIS), said on her Twitter account.
And this is one of the most complex areas in terms of public order in Colombia. “The border between Cauca and Nariño is one of several key roads for drug traffickers, because it gives them direct access from the plantations they control to the Pacific Ocean. And from there to the whole world, ”says Jaime Honorio González, journalist and researcher.
Just one day later, on August 11, five minors who were friends were massacred in a peripheral area of the city of Cali, Valle del Cauca. The victims were between 14 and 15 years old. They were known in the neighborhood for their love of sports and social causes. Most had knockouts and others stab wounds.
“It has been a long time since a manifestation of ferocity of this nature was presented in our city. And these dramatic, painful, absolutely unacceptable events that generate outrage must lead us to a comprehensive and joint action that allows us to capture the culprits, ”said Colombian Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo.
The pain and mourning of the family and friends who participated in the funeral of the minors was interrupted by the explosion of a grenade on August 13, when unknown persons threw the explosive device at the assistants. The incident left one person dead and at least 14 injured, including a one-year-old child. The police point out as responsible for these violent actions criminal gangs that dispute control of drug trafficking in this area of Cali.
But the streak of massacres and crimes did not end there. Around midnight last Saturday, armed men fired indiscriminately at a group of young people in the municipality of Samaniego, Nariño. Eight of them died at the scene. In the same town, another young woman was killed almost simultaneously. Again, little or nothing is known about the perpetrators.
Colombian President Iván Duque referred to this in his Twitter account and said: "Crimes like that of Samaniego hurt us and we must be clear: there is a presence of ELN and micro-trafficking groups that we confront with force." In addition, he referred to a Security Council that is working on the investigation of the events.
Different social and human rights organizations condemned the deaths of these minors, and asked the government to clarify as soon as possible.
These types of events recall the darkest times of the armed conflict in Colombia and seemed to have been left behind after the peace agreements between the government and paramilitary groups and also with the FARC guerrillas. But the rise of territorial disputes for the control of drug trafficking by illegal armed groups, put the civilian population, especially in rural and peripheral areas, at high risk.
“The security situation for the communities deteriorated significantly. It is urgent to increase protection and ensure justice, ”says José Miguel Vivanco, director for the Americas at Human Rights Watch.
The Office of the Attorney General of the Nation of Colombia ordered a special group of investigators to thoroughly find out what and who is behind these deaths. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also expressed its concern on Monday.
"The UN in Colombia expresses its strong condemnation of the massacre of 8 young people in the municipality of Samaniego," as well as "the other violent events that have occurred in recent weeks in different regions, affecting the security of the communities," said the body through a statement. He also expressed his alarm at the "killings of human rights defenders, leaders and social leaders and ex-combatants of the FARC-EP in 2020."
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