At least 379 disappeared during protests in …

Human rights organizations have denounced that at least 379 people disappeared in Colombia in the wave of protests against the government, who insisted on the need to “lift the blockades and guarantee the supply of food and vaccines”, in a day when certain unified street demonstrations were renewed, now with the sole demand to end the repression and to demilitarize the streets.

Although the list of demands of the National Unemployment Committee contains no less than 10 points, the wave of repression and attacks on the marches by the security forces -Which also killed at least 26 people- all other axes ran and everything was concentrated in the demand for respect for the right to protest, also defended by international organizations.

The Missing Persons Search Unit (UPBD) dependent on the Colombian Ombudsman’s Office, which published information from some 26 human rights organizations, published this number of 379 missing persons, even if the attitude of the police and military forces makes precisely the difficult investigation because citizens refuse to “notify” where they are.

Initially, the report recorded 471 people likely missing since May 1, but 92 people have already been found, including several injured and hospitalized.

The General Inspectorate of the Colombian Police iHe reported having opened nearly fifty internal investigations after the wave of complaints about the fierce repression of protests which, for the tenth day in a row, are taking place in the main cities of the country, first for tax reform and now for other claims. .

Hundreds of videos showing how the police and in particular the Esmad (Riot Squad) attack protesters in Cali, Medellín, Pasto, Barranquilla, Bogotá and others, with bursts of stun guns, tear gas and live ammunition.

Activists also denounced that Independent media Twitter and Instagram accounts blocked to avoid the viralization of these images.
The Defend Freedom campaign, of which several civil society organizations are members, received 569 complaints of assault and violence from officers.
The floor He also said the possible connection between seven other deaths and the protests was under investigation.

In Colombia, theCrimes committed by members of the security forces in the exercise of their functions are, in principle, tried before military criminal justice. This does not, however, prevent it fromthe prosecution conducts its investigations and can request the competence of the processes or they go to court to decide who is handling the cases. However, military jurisdiction does not include crimes of torture, genocide, enforced disappearance, against humanity or those that violate international humanitarian law.

Given the number of violations reported by the media, “technical” issues of the use of force remained at the center of the debate and the concept of “enforced disappearance” was even discussed in the most widely circulated newspapers. The newspaper The spectator published on its digital site a comprehensive and impactful report with testimonies from young people held informally for a few hours and who recounted the beatings and torture they suffered, while their relatives searched for them and denounced their disappearances on the social networks.

Repression, at Duque’s table with the opposition

Of course, repression was also on the conversation table that the President Iván Duque he maintained with opponents nucleated in the Coalition of Hope, which condemned the repression “vigorously”. “Our presence here neither diminishes nor softens our protest. We have seen scenes of lack of control which should be punished,” said the group made up of former governors, lawmakers, former ministers and former vice president, leaving the Casa. from Nariño. , seat of the presidency.

The meeting marked the second day of the agenda of conversation with different sectors of the country promised by Duque amid the political crisis that not only forced him to withdraw tax reform and change ministers, but the now requires responding to other demands. Duque began yesterday with the heads of the organs of the judiciary the round of dialogue, which he seeks to put at the center of the scene.

“We stress the importance of supporting the institutions, lifting the blockages and guaranteeing the supply of food and vaccines”, wrote the president on his Twitter account, in which he insisted on “respect for the peaceful demonstration , as a democratic expression and rejection of violence and vandalismWithout even mentioning the actions of the security forces.

For the opponents, on the other hand, the question was central. “The president must assume the direct leadership of the armed forces so that the attacks against the population who have demonstrated peacefully cease,” said a leader of the armed forces. Coalition for Hope.

During the protests, in addition to blocking streets and roads, the indigenous peoples of Misak knocked down the statue of Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, the city’s founding Spanish conqueror, who was in a small square a few blocks from the Palacio de Nariño, the presidential seat. Another group of the community had done the same last week with the figure of the conqueror also Sebastián de Belalcázar in Cali.