In 2020, at least 5,742 children and adolescents were victims of forced displacement following 45 events recorded in the departments of Antioquia, Cauca, Chocó, Nariño and Valle del Cauca.
This was denounced by the NGOs World Vision and Coalico who have published a new report on the situation of violations of children's rights in the country, in the context of the armed conflict and violence aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Following the closure of the schools, the actions of the various armed groups in the country and the serious humanitarian crisis resulting from the pandemic, the scenarios of violations and infringements of International Humanitarian Law against children and adolescents have multiplied", signals the report cited by the Colombian magazine Semana.
The document also reports that in the course of last year at least 79 events occurred affecting about 222 girls, girls and adolescents "victims or at risk of recruitment by armed actors" in the country, despite the Colombian Ombudsman having issued in 2020 23 warnings about the risk of the use of minors by armed groups in Antioquia, Caquetá, Cauca, Chocó, Meta, Nariño, Valle del Cauca and Putumayo.
The report was on the occasion of the International Day of Red Hands on February 12, to raise awareness among governments and public opinion around the world against the phenomenon of child soldiers.
The Colombian Comunes party, born from the demobilization of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) today denounced the murder of former fighter Antonio Ricaurte Solarte, stressing that he is victim number 256 among the former rebels since the signing of the peace agreement between government and FARC in 2016. "256 peace signatories assassinated. On February 9, comrade Antonio Ricaurte Solarte, 43, was the victim of a murder in the Putumayo department. We are very saddened by the dreams that have been shattered and the pain of every family, "wrote the party on its Twitter profile, sharing a photo of the victim.
According to reports from the newspaper El Espectador, the Comunes party reported that it did not know the causes that led to this murder, and asked Colombian authorities for a thorough investigation to find out where the perpetrators are.
According to the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz), Antonio Ricaurte is the seventh former Farc fighter assassinated in 2021. Ricaurte is the first former rebel killed in February.