Disturbing human rights outlook in Colombia presented by Amnesty International

assures the report submitted by Amnesty International.

He adds that homicides and threats against human rights defenders have increased, mainly to social leaders and people of African descent who are also victims of displacement.

The organization says that “from a human rights perspective, 2021 was largely a story of betrayal and hypocrisy in the stays of power. Even so, the hope for a better world after the pandemic was kept alive thanks to the courage of individuals, social movements and civil society organizations”, it should be noted that, although it evaluates the American continent and the entire world, it delimits the situations and conditions experienced last year by country.

The report explains that crimes under international law and human rights violations, in the context of the “prolonged armed conflict”, increased in the departments of Chocó, Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Nariño and Norte de Santander.

They say that 100,000 people were forcibly displaced during 2021 and points out that in the context of the National Strike there were multiple complaints about the excessive use of force by the security forces, especially in Cali.

Amnesty International reviews the statistics presented by the Foundation for Press Freedom, FLIP, which point to the profiling of people who denounced, on social networks, “police violence during the National Strike”, according to the data, military intelligence “profiled at least 57 journalists”, obtaining data from its location and social media activity.

The report says that according to the Defend Freedom Campaign, 3,275 people were “arbitrarily” detained between April 28 and June 30. They tell the case of Álvaro Herrera, Noé Muñoz and Sebastián Mejía who “were beaten and detained by armed civilians, and subsequently spent 24 hours in the custody of the National Police in Cali. Álvaro Herrera and Sebastián Mejía reported that they had been subjected to torture and other cruel and inhuman treatment during their detention.”

Another point that Amnesty International warns about is impunity, referring to cases where the JEP charged 8 members of the former FARC secretariat for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Also, in the indictment of 25 former soldiers who are related to 127 extrajudicial executions in the Catatumbo region, committed between 2002 and 2003, in addition to another 120 that allegedly occurred between 2007 and 2008. These “casualties” were presented as false positives.

The last case to which special attention is drawn, so that it does not remain in impunity is that of Dilan Cruz, a process that was transferred by the Constitutional Court from the military courts to the ordinary courts.

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