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News > Colombia

Int. Organizations Demand Investigation Into Colombian Massacre

  • On March 28, 11 persons were killed in Puerto Leguízamo, Putumayo during an armed operation. Apr. 14, 2022.

    On March 28, 11 persons were killed in Puerto Leguízamo, Putumayo during an armed operation. Apr. 14, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@pbiusa

Published 14 April 2022
Opinion

On March 28, the National Army reported having attacked an alleged criminal organization operating in the department of Putumayo, in Alto Remanso district, in which 11 people were killed.

The human rights offices of the United Nations, together with the Organization of American States, demanded to investigate the operation that allegedly intended to arrest or kill "Buno," a commander of the drug trafficking group Border Commandos. 

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Having visited the hamlet, the UN said that soldiers opened fire at the village when approximately 30 to 50 people, among them children and women, were at a bazaar held to raise money for the construction of a road linking the hamlet to a farm nearby.

Contrary to the claims of the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, and the commander of the National Army, General Eduardo Zapateiro, who insist that the murdered civilians were members of the Border Commandos, media and community organizations said that the identified bodies to date belong to members of the local indigenous and peasant communities.

Juan Pappier, a senior researcher for the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch, said evidence shows that at least four of the 11 people killed during the operation were unarmed civilians.

The new censure motion was filed against the Colombian Defense Minister for a military operation that left 11 dead in Putumayo. A group of 30 Colombian congressmen introduced a new motion of censure against the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano.

The UN human rights office in Colombia said that those responsible for this incident in Putamayo should be prosecuted and punished. All necessary disciplinary and penal measures should be taken. 

The international organizations also called on authorities to protect the lives and integrity of witnesses and investigative journalists who are under attack for their publications on this case.  

The Attorney General's Office has said it has set up a team of 29 investigators to figure out what precisely occurred in the operation. 

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Juan Pappier
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