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News > Latin America

Rights Groups Attacked Near Scene of Colombian Massacre

  • They were attacked with air shots and grenades as they attempted to enter the area, according to the Office of the Public Defender. 

    They were attacked with air shots and grenades as they attempted to enter the area, according to the Office of the Public Defender.  | Photo: El Espectador

Published 8 October 2017
Opinion

The police have issued a statement saying they "regret" the harassment.

Colombia's Justice and Peace Organization says a human rights mission has been attacked by members of the security forces in Tandil, a village in Tumaco, as they approached the site where several protesters were killed last week. Journalists were also caught up in the shooting.

RELATED:
Truth Commission Requested by Rights Groups to Investigate Killings in Colombia

They were attacked with air shots and grenades as they attempted to enter the area, according to the Office of the Public Defender. 

The police said they "regret" the harassment but added that "An indeterminate group of people tried to enter the back of the base, a circumstance that led to the soldiers activating two stun grenades, which did not cause any injuires."

On Thursday, a number of protesters rallying against the forced eradication of coca crops were killed in southwestern region of Narino.

Local reports and campesinos' rights groups say state security forces opened fire on the demonstrators.

The exact number of dead is in dispute. 

Social organizations say nine people were killed and 50 wounded.

While the Proscecutor's Office puts the official figure at six dead and 30 injured.

The humanitarian mission who went to visit the scene of the killings on Sunday included members of the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, the United Nations, Legal Corporation Yira Castro, Minga Association, Inter-Church Dialogue for Peace, We are Defenders, Conpaz and Mennonite Christian Association for Justice, Peace and Nonviolent Action.

Referring to the latest incident, the police issued an apology, "to the members of the commission and reiterates their willingness to collaborate with the respective investigation, prior notice and inter-institutional coordination."

Rights groups are demanding a truth commission investigation into Thursday's violence.

Police have said dissident FARC rebels who have rejected the peace process in Narino, one of the areas hardest hit by state and drug trafficking violence, were responsible for the unrest.

The Daniel Aldana Mobile Column has been accused by the Colombian Defence Ministry of using explosives and firearms to attack civilians as well as police and military forces sent to manually destroy coca crops.

But witnesses say officers and the army fired on the protesters. 

Testimonies collected by the Ombudsman's Office also indicate that members of the anti-narcotics police could be responsible for the incident.

The agency said coca farmers attending the rally came from the villages of Sonadora, Restrepo, Vallenato, El Divorcio Playón and El Tandil, and they were joined by members of the Awa Indigenous community.

The Office has requested a special probe by the country's prosecutor into the killings.

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