HRW talks about the urgency of police reform 0:55
(CNN Spanish) -
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch denounced in a new report "police brutality" against protesters in Colombia and asked the Government of President Iván Duque to "take urgent measures to protect the human rights" of those who protest, and bring those responsible for these events brought to justice.
The report published this Wednesday documents multiple cases of violence by the police forces against protesters in the framework of the anti-government protests that began on April 28, 2021, in principle for a tax reform that was withdrawn, but that went ahead asking for equality , rejecting police violence, due to unemployment, among multiple factors.
According to the report, the Colombian Police have committed "very serious abuses" against the protesters during the protests and that would have caused the death of at least 20 people.
The Colombian police shared with CNN a report on guarantees of the peaceful demonstration, in which it condemns any "situation that eventually implies a violation of human rights" and says that it will be "investigated and punished, there will be no impunity."
According to this report from the Ministry of Defense "it has been determined that 21 civilians have died in the midst of the protests, 19 cases have been ruled out and 11 additional cases are in the process of clarification."
For its part, the government of President Iván Duque has stated on several occasions that human rights violations will not be tolerated and confirmed that disciplinary investigations were opened against those in uniform.
advertising
"The human rights violations committed by the Colombian police are not isolated incidents of undisciplined agents, but the result of deep structural failures," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, in the report.
Colombian President Iván Duque last week acknowledged "isolated" acts of violence by the police but denied that they were systematic.
His government has said it has "zero tolerance" for police abuse.
"If there is any crime on the part of a member of the police or the Army, in whatever expression, these behaviors are being investigated and will be prosecuted," Duque told Christiane Amanpour in mid-May.
The risky tactic chosen by the Government of Colombia in the face of the protests
Duque assures that police are investigated for abuses 5:17
Duque's police reform is "cosmetic"
The organization urged the Colombian government to take urgent measures to protect human rights and initiate “deep” police reform to guarantee that the right to peaceful assembly is respected and that those responsible for the abuses are brought to justice.
President Iván Duque announced this Sunday that he would present a bill to reform the Police.
HRW stressed that while this proposal could "have a positive impact" on preventing police abuse if implemented correctly, it also said that other measures announced by Duque are "cosmetic."
"Other measures announced appear to be rather cosmetic in nature and, in general, the proposed reforms are not sufficient to prevent human rights violations and guarantee justice for abuses," the report says.
HRW called for the reform to separate the police from the military forces and ensure "adequate oversight and accountability to prevent these abuses from reoccurring or going unpunished."
But the proposal presented by Duque does not speak of the separation of the Police from the Ministry of Defense, but of the creation of a Vice Ministry of Defense Policy and Citizen Security within it.
There is also the implementation of a regulation to "limit the marketing, carrying and use of traumatic weapons" and the change of uniforms that will go from green to blue, according to Duque.
If the majority of protests are peaceful, why the militarization?
Iván Duque responds to Amanpour
Iván Duque announces reform to the Police after more than a month of unemployment in Colombia and in the middle of the IACHR's visit to Colombia
They denounce that police attack civilian clothes 1:59
Deaths, arbitrary arrests, beatings and more
HRW noted that it received credible reports from local organizations about 68 deaths that occurred since the start of the protests in late April.
So far, they confirmed that 34 of these deaths occurred in the context of the demonstrations, including those of two policemen, a judicial investigator and 31 civilians, of whom 20 apparently died because of the police.
The HRW report details a series of abuses committed by the police against protesters.
Among them are reported deaths of at least "16 protesters or bystanders with lethal ammunition fired from firearms";
beatings, misuse of tear gas and stun bombs, thousands of injuries and more than a hundred missing.
On the issue of missing persons, the Ministry of Defense said that as of June 4, 2021, the whereabouts of 78 people are pending to be established, who will continue to be investigated until their whereabouts are found and added that there are another 22 cases reported after that date .
Against all of them, the Urgent Search Mechanism is active, says the report.
Police Inspector General Jorge Luis Ramírez said last week that his office is investigating 170 cases of abuse at the hands of the police.
Eleven of those cases are directly related to the killing of protesters by police officers.
In addition, they denounced beatings, sexual abuse and arbitrary detentions.
On the other hand, armed people in civilian clothes also attacked protesters and killed at least five of them.
In addition to this, it also documented arbitrary dispersal of peaceful protests, excessive use of force, improper use of lethal weapons, among others.
The Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (Esmad) is also the focus of the complaints in the HRW report.
The NGO says that it has documented "several cases" in which these agents or regular policemen "violated these principles by arbitrarily dispersing peaceful protests or using force indiscriminately or excessively, including through the use of lethal weapons."
"Some of the victims were hit by several projectiles at the same time, which suggests that they were fired at close range, since these projectiles disperse as they move away," says the report.
The HRW report cites police denying the use of lethal weapons.
In its report on the protest, the Defense Ministry says that neither its agents "who accompany the peaceful demonstrations in Colombia nor the members of Esmad use firearms."
Finally, the organization rejects the deployment of the military in the protests, something that Duque has defended, saying that it is a question of support for the Police.
“In those specific cases where there is a threat to public safety, the protocol implies that there must be a police action.
But, also, if there is a serious threat in a city, the military can support the work but never participate in anti-riot activities.
What they do in this collaboration is protect key infrastructure that may be under threat.
Under no circumstances have members of the Army been involved in anti-riot activities, "Duque told Amanpour.
HRW's recommendations to the Colombian government
Finally, HRW made a series of recommendations both to the Colombian government and to other control institutions that carry out investigations into the violation of human rights.
Between them:
- Guarantee the respect and protection of human rights during protests
- Present an apology on behalf of the State for police abuses during protests.
- Do not disperse peaceful protests and prioritize mechanisms that do not involve the use of force to lift blockades
- Advance disciplinary and criminal investigations into allegations of police abuse
Human Rights Watch Protests in Colombia