Church organizations confirmed that minors commit suicide in Chocó to avoid being recruited by terrorists and drug traffickers

Following constant allegations that several minors are resorting to suicide in the department of Chocó, as a result of forced recruitment in the region, 070 obtained a report from an ecclesiastical organization, which confirms the facts that are putting a vulnerable population at risk throughout the history of the conflict in the country.

The Lutheran World Federation based in Colombia, outlined a high concern about this phenomenon that increased its impact in recent years, however, there are data that indicate that the first cases of suicide have emerged since 2000, in addition, the confinement of Afro and indigenous communities due to the presence of armed actors in this area, the expansion of fighting and the absence of the authorities, emphasize that this problem constantly weakens the human rights of the populations living in this department.

070 contacted Daniel Macía, coordinator of the mental health program of the organization Doctors Without Borders in Colombia, Macía, demonstrated a high concern about the lack of state intervention in this area on issues related to mental health, as this issue is often addressed directly by actors independent and non - State, which constitutes a serious contrariousness with regard to the absence of the State.

Faced with this situation, the representative of Doctors Without Borders said that intervention teams are limited by some organizations, which is why the deployment is progressively sharpened, Macia explained: “There is really very little availability of equipment to deal with these situations, on the one hand because they are not qualified and on the other because there is nothing available to establish mental health policies that adequately cover the territories, there we have a historical problem.” .

In turn, the coordinator of the mental health program revealed a worrying figure regarding the year of origin of this phenomenon, noting: “If you look at the availability of public mental health services, they are extremely limited throughout the department of chocó, and many of the mental health actions are covered by non-government organizations it is curious, then, that we present cases of suicide since 2000 at different times, with these different effervescences of the Colombian armed conflict in this area, and that there is not adequate attention and an adequate perspective, is worrying, because it cannot be that we complete a new decade and that then in 2030, we are talking about this again in a press release.”

According to 070, so far in 2022 there have been 40 suicide attempts, specifically in the Embera Dobida communities in the municipality of Bojayá, unfortunately there are also records of at least four suicides. Regarding a general overview this year, there are 22 unfortunate cases that have occurred throughout the department of Chocó.

The intensification of the conflict in this department has been reported by different entities that warn of the imminent risk in the populations that inhabit the region, although in 2022 the Ombudsman's Office has focused early warnings in certain municipalities, in September 2021 this entity issued the early warning structural 016-21 for the presence of illegal armed groups attached to the ELN and the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, with predominance in the middle of Atrato, Bojayá and connection with Vigia del Fuerte in the department of Antioquia.

Gender-based violence, torture, stigmatization and extortion were the main behaviors identified by the Office of the Ombudsman in alert 016-21, however, warnings arose from here regarding the forced recruitment and use of children and adolescents as objects for the armed conflict, directly stigmatizing this population, which is configured as a subject of re-victimization of violence.

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