Angelica Perez
05/06/2021 9:56 AM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 05/06/2021 9:58 AM
"The policeman dragged me to an office, tied me up, kicked me, two patrol cars entered and started hitting my head against the wall, calling me 'bitch', and hitting me on the legs. They left me tied up for half an hour."
The testimonies show a true
night of terror
.
The one speaking is a young woman who participated in a candlelight march in
Cali
on Monday
, one of the epicenters of the protests that have been shaking
Colombia
for more than a week
.
In this city the demonstrations against the government of Iván Duque became particularly violent.
And there was a
harsh repression
in neighborhoods like Siloé.
On Monday night, the inhabitants of this popular neighborhood in the southwest of the city experienced scenes of horror when the police and the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD) dispersed, with
gunshots and gases thrown from a helicopter
, a peaceful march by the community in honor of the dead of the repression.
Five people died during the operation
, which led to 24 homicides in the capital of Valle in eight days of national strike and social protest, deaths attributed to the Police and ESMAD, according to the NGOs Temblores and INDEPAZ.
Horror stories
Radio France International
collected some testimonies from young victims of police violence in the operation.
Here, their stories.
"We were on a peaceful march, on a candle (a march with candles)," a young Siloé resident tells RFI, who prefers to remain anonymous like most of the people who gave their testimony.
“There were a lot of people, a lot of children.
Around 9 pm the ESMAD arrived firing, throwing gases.
They really were going to kill us.
There were many policemen and trucks.
I was with my partner.
We both ran but we were caught when we got to the station.
They told us' lower your head.
Don't look at the faces, '"he recalls.
Protests against the government and a tribute to those killed in the repression, this Wednesday in Cali, Colombia.
Photo: AFP
Look also
In photos: repression in the streets, a week of protests, riots and police violence in Colombia
The story continues: "A policeman grabbed my hair and gave me four bolillazos (blows). When he was going to hit me in the face, one of the assistants took his hand and told him not to hit me in the face because I was a woman".
It was there, then, that the agent dragged her, tied her up, and kicked her.
And the two policewomen entered who continued to beat him.
The protesters say that
the security forces opened fire on civilians
in the capital of Valle del Cauca, of 2.2 million inhabitants.
For his part, President
Duque supported the action of the uniformed men
, whom he considers victims of attacks, to control violent protests against the government that in almost a week left about 40 dead, 222 injured and 831 arbitrary arrests of protesters, according to the NGO Tremors.
A barricade in Cali.
The city became the epicenter of protests in Colombia.
Photo: AFP
Police abuse
The UN, the European Union, the United States, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and national and international organizations for the defense of human rights raised their voices against police abuses and denounced the
disproportionate use of force
by Colombian agents during these days of national strike.
According to the local mayor's office, five people died and 33 were injured on Monday night in Cali.
The Ombudsman's Office did not corroborate these figures.
“There were two gunshot wounds.
This was verified and verified by us, the medical assistance personnel who were there ”, confirmed to RFI Nestor Reveiz, doctor of the emergency brigade in Siloé.
Gases against doctors
“
You could hear many bursts of semi-automatic weapons, pistols, revolvers.
There was a very big onslaught from the police, they threw gas at everyone, including us, the health personnel.
We had to withdraw because the situation was not safe, "he added.
"They were hitting so hard that our heads were blown off," another young man who participated in the march told RFI.
Despite the repression of the previous days, a crowd marched again on Wednesday in Cali against the government of Iván Duque.
Photo: EFE
“They put 30 of us in a cage, some bleeding.
There were also minors.
(The policemen) ride motorcycles in the neighborhoods, they
really want to kill us all ”.
"My parents, my brothers, neighbors and several acquaintances were present at the march," a young protester told RFI.
“When the shooting started, since they couldn't find us, they started looking for us.
If not, the story would have been another ”, he pointed out.
Electric shocks
"
They put the taser everywhere
," a young man who participated in the protests explained to RFI.
“There were policemen without identification, in civilian clothes and with weapons that are not of their endowment.
There were also vans without license plates ”, he described.
The testimonies are repeated: "
They applied (electric) current to us, they told us that they were going to kill us and they were going to throw us into the Cauca River
," a young resident of Siloé complains to RFI.
“Or that they poured gasoline on us and set us on fire.
We want to make it public because this cannot stay that way ”, he complains.
"They want to make us look like vandals to justify the murders," another young woman was outraged.
“They are killing the youth who are coming out to protest an injustice.
The Colombian people are tired, they can't do it anymore, they can't do another reform.
We cannot continue paying for the rich to live comfortably, people are tired.
That's why they came out to protest, they are people who have endured hunger, who have had a hard time, "he attacked.
The harsh police reaction unleashed even more fury and new protests in the Colombian population.
Photo: AFP
Humanitarian corridor
The mayor of Cali and the leaders of the national strike and the social protest in the city agreed to open a humanitarian corridor to overcome the
shortage resulting
from the
blockade at the entrances to the city
during the last week of social mobilization.
"We are negotiating with the protesters, with the people who are blocking the roads, to open humanitarian corridors so that we can have food security," Fernando Marmolejo, director of the Office of Internal Relations and Cooperation of the Mayor's Office of Cali, told RFI. .
“The other objective is to establish channels of dialogue to lower the level of confrontation to this.
Regain governance in Cali and regain peace.
Establish a negotiating table with these leaders, some identified, others not, because I believe that if young people between the ages of 15 and 25 are mobilizing, it is because there are demands and they must be heard, "the official added.
"At the national level, to withdraw the labor reform, the health reform," the leader of the group Soñadores de Siloé, Steven Ospina, explained to RFI.
"That it withdraws the figure of military assistance and also that the minister apologize to us for the murders committed by the Public Force.
With the local Administration that they ask for forgiveness, because by omission or by action they were the cause of the violent attack that took place on May 3, "he claimed.
But above all, what they ask for are "guarantees for a dignified life, for the economic reactivation of the neighborhood, for young people, who are the ones on the front line." The protests continue.
Source: RFI
CB
Look also
What is happening in Colombia?
Protests in Colombia: why Cali became the epicenter of mobilizations and violence