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Colombia: the government asks for "forgiveness", new calls to demonstrate

2020-09-11T20:34:47.854Z


The Colombian government asked for "forgiveness" Friday for the blunder at the origin of two days of riots against police violence, which left 13 dead, while new calls for demonstrations were launched in Bogota. After two days of violent protests in the capital and several major cities in the country, Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo expressed his “pain and indignation” after the death on W


The Colombian government asked for

"forgiveness"

Friday for the blunder at the origin of two days of riots against police violence, which left 13 dead, while new calls for demonstrations were launched in Bogota.

After two days of violent protests in the capital and several major cities in the country, Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo expressed his

“pain and indignation”

after the death on Wednesday of Javier Ordóñez, whose brutal arrest had been posted on social networks.

Read also: Insurrectionary climate in Colombia, 11 dead

The minister, who oversees the police in a country marked by a long armed conflict, asked for

"forgiveness"

for

"any violation of the law or ignorance of the regulations"

on the part of the police.

After his arrest, the 43-year-old engineer, who was finishing his law studies, was taken to a police station where he suffered

"medical complications"

, according to police, before dying shortly after in hospital.

According to his family's defense, the police

“massacred”

this father of two children, by beating him up.

"I have photos (...) it is an aggravated homicide and an offense of torture, at least an abuse of authority"

lawyer Vadith Gomez told local radio station Blu Radio.

The autopsy report has not yet been made public.

According to the Minister of Defense, in addition to the criminal investigation, an internal investigation was carried out

"for abuse of authority and suspected homicide"

.

A total of seven police officers were suspended.

But these statements did not seem able to calm the anger of the streets.

For the third consecutive day, calls for demonstrations in the capital were launched under the slogan

"We are slaughtered".

"This is not new, the police and the military have always used excessive force," said

José Maria Builes, a resident of Bogota

,

to AFP.

Militarization

The protests have caused the death of 13 people, most of them 17 to 27 years old fatally injured in Bogota and its surroundings, according to a latest report.

Authorities also reported 209 civilians and 194 police and military personnel injured.

The mayor of Bogota, Claudia Lopez, opponent of the conservative president Ivan Duque, has identified 68 civilians in the capital with gunshot wounds and declared that she had

"solid"

evidence

of

"indiscriminate use"

of force.

Videos posted on social media show people in uniform responding with their firearms to attacks.

According to political scientist Sandra Borda, the police

"have a very high degree of militarization"

due to the long conflict with the guerrillas and the fight against drug trafficking, which influences their vision of maintaining order.

The police

"should not report" to

the Ministry of Defense, which demands results

"in the face of enemies",

while

"in the face of citizens,"

said Sebastian Lalinde of the NGO to AFP. Dejusticia.

The police had never been the object of such social anger in Colombia.

The institution enjoyed great popularity during the armed conflict, especially against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

But since social movements severely repressed in 2019, the antagonism is significant.

The viral video in which Javier Ordoñez begs the police to stop shocking him with their electric pulse pistols has heightened popular anger against the police, already at its highest since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cases of people beaten or even killed, such as a 19-year-old in Cali in May, because they had not respected confinement, have heightened the bitterness towards the police.

According to official data, the police arrested 940 people in 2019, and 7791 between March and May 2020.

“It was supposed to explode,”

Sandra Borda analyzes.

"

People openly distrust the police and the police think that the enemy is the citizens who come out to demonstrate."

However, the police still benefit from the support of the government

"which has difficulty in generating empathy with the victims and is more likely to support the police institution"

, estimates the specialist.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-09-11

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