Colombia's state admits to assassinating 348 social leaders between 1985 and 2016
Colombia’s state admits to assassinating 348 social leaders between 1985 and 2016
by Adriaan Alsema January 13, 2019
Colombia’s state officials assassinated at least 348 social leaders and human rights defenders between 1985 and 2016, the chief prosecutor said in a report on war crimes committed by the state.
Prosecutor General Nestor Humberto Martinez on Friday surrendered a report to the country’s war crimes tribunal about the 184 criminal investigations into the violent persecution of social leaders and human rights defenders that took place during the armed conflict.
The president of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), Patricia Linares, said the war crimes tribunal would use the prosecution report as the starting point of its own investigations into state crimes against human rights defenders and social leaders.
State crimes against social leaders peaked between 2000 and 2008
According to the prosecution, the majority of registered crimes took place between 2000 and 2008, and that other peaks of violence targeting civilian leaders were registered in 1987, 1997 and 2013.
More:
https://colombiareports.com/colombias-state-admits-to-assassinating-348-social-leaders-between-1985-and-2016/
(Peak years for assassinations of human rights leaders, indigenous leaders, African-Colombian leaders, etc. happened during the regime of Alvaro Uribe, long connected to narcotrafficking and paramilitaries (death squads) and the current puppet-meister of Colombia's sitting "President." )
