Colombia: National Police Kill Indigenous Child in Putumayo

Colombia's National Police Monday killed an Awa child and injured a farmer during an operation to eradicate coca crops in La Castellana, in the Putumayo province.

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"The 15-year-old Jose Oliver Maya was shot in the chest when he was caught in the police gunfire," the NGO Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission (CIJP) reported.

This is the second murder produced during police operations to eradicate coca crops. On July 3, farmer Eduardo Alemeza was also murdered in the Teteye community, which is located at Puerto Vegas.

"The state is responsible for these murders," the CIJP stressed and demanded an end to the territorial militarization and the social insecurity that rural communities are experiencing. 

"We also demand Ivan Duke's government to take the necessary measures to content the COVID-19 contagion," the human rights defenders added.

In 2020, over 50 Indigenous people have died in Colombia at the hands of irregular armed groups and Police officers. 

Colombia's 2019 homicide rate was 25 per 100,000 residents, which means the country has an endemic level of violence, according to the United Nations data.