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(CNN Spanish) - Three years after the signing of the Final Agreement for Peace between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), 2019 closes with the highest number of murders of former guerrillas in the last three years, according to a report presented Tuesday by the Verification Mission of the United Nations Organization in that country.
The document presents a comparison between the last three years. In 2019, the report reports 77 murders of ex-guerrillas, 65 in 2018 and 31 in 2017. In addition, it records 14 disappearances and 29 homicide attempts in the last year.
"Especially in rural areas, they continue to be targets of violence and intimidation by illegal armed groups, criminal organizations and drug cartels," the report details.
In that regard, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, called for more effective measures to protect the lives of former FARC combatants.
The current Government of Iván Duque has promised more security guarantees and asked the Prosecutor to investigate the crimes and has developed an inter-institutional mechanism coordinated by the Office of the Presidential Counselor for Stabilization to monitor the security of former combatants.
Among the measures coordinated by this office, the deployment of additional investigators and police officers in the territories affected by the violence against former combatants and social leaders to strengthen the Special Investigation Unit (UEI) of the Office of the Attorney General of Colombia and the Elite Corps of the police.
The report also highlights that in search of the return to civil life, the Colombian Government promotes collective productive projects that benefit around 2,500 ex-combatants, as well as the approval of funds to generate opportunities for education, employment, security and access to services. public
However, he also claims that in the same period of time, three years, the office of the UN High Commissioner has verified 303 murders of human rights defenders and social leaders, 86 in 2019 alone.
So far, the Colombian Government has not reacted to the report. But on previous occasions, President Ivan Duque has repudiated the murder of social leaders. "Not one more," Duque said during a speech before the Colombian Congress in July 2019.
The report of the Secretary General will be presented by the Special Representative of the Secretary General in Colombia, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, before the United Nations Security Council in New York on January 13, 2020.
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