A member of the Esmad singled out by the death of a protester in Usme is summoned to the public audience

The Attorney General's Office summoned to a public hearing a patrolman of the National Police, a member of the first section of the Mobile Anti-Riot Squadron (Esmad) No. 25, for the death of a citizen during the protests in Usme.

The Public Ministry reported that Esmad members had violated the legal limits allowed for riot control, in the protests of June 21, 2021 in the town of Usme, where citizen Jaime Alonso Fandiño Ariza lost his life.

According to the supervisory body, the uniformed member of the National Police would have failed to observe the protocols and measures established in the procedures for the handling of demonstrations, a conduct that is likely to be in breach of existing rules on the use of legitimate force.

As a result of these facts, the file was ordered to be sent to the Office of the Delegate Prosecutor for Disciplinary Judgment. Likewise, the watchdog provisionally described the lack of the member of Esmad as very serious as a malice.

In the context of the national strike that began in April last year and lasted for several months, different entities reported numerous deaths in which Esmad members were allegedly involved, one of those being that of Jaime Alonso Fandiño Ariza.

The 32-year-old man died after being hit with tear gas grenade in his chest, according to the NGO Tremores at the time.

According to what was known at the time, the man who was hit with the tear gas can in Usme, was transferred to CAMI in Santa Librada where he arrived without vital signs.

“We demand that the competent authorities of the local, district and national order carry out the relevant investigations and sanctions against those responsible for the above-mentioned aggressions, as well as to urgently and immediately take the necessary actions to prevent the excessive use of public force and violence against of civilians, to guarantee the right to life, to protest and to provide guarantees for the protection of protesters,” said a statement issued at that time by the Usme Human Rights Committee.

According to the Institute for Studies for Development and Peace, Indepaz, during the 2021 national strike there were at least 80 victims of homicidal violence in the national territory. It should be remembered that most deaths were reported in Valle del Cauca and especially in Cali.

KEEP READING: