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UN-backed report reveals police brutality in Colombia that killed 11 people during protests last year


Publishing the results of the report on Monday, Chief Investigator Carlos Negret accused the Colombian National Police (PNC) of carrying out a “massacre”.

“The PNC openly rejects any principle of proportionality or absolute necessity in the use of lethal force,” according to the report.

“Who gave the order, why are they shooting at unarmed protesters who are responsible for the pain and loss of life – those are questions we cannot answer,” Negret said. at a press conference on Monday.

Negret, who served as Colombian inspector from 2016 to 2020, also reiterated the United Nations’ definition of a massacre, saying it “takes place when three or more people are murdered in the same incident and by the same killer.”

Amid escalating violence, Colombia sends troops to

An independent report commissioned by the Mayor of Bogota, Claudia Lopez and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to investigate the deaths of at least 14 people during anti-brutal protests that engulfed the Colombian capital in September 9, and 10, 2020.

The protests broke out after footage of police taunting law student Javier Ordonez – who has been detained for allegedly violating Covid restrictions – was spread.

Ordonez died a few hours after being assigned the mission. PNC patrol officer Juan Camilo Lloreda Cubillos was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined approximately US$370,500 for his death.

The report states that “the events of violence, abuse and police brutality that began in the early hours of September 9 with the murder of Javier Ordonez at the hands of National Police officers caused one of the the most serious human rights abuses in history. of Bogota.”

In a statement to CNN, the PNC said it was “primarily concerned with justice being delivered and those responsible for those events … being punished.”

“The entire weight of the law must be reduced,” it said.

The events surrounding Ordonez’s death have been compared to the murder of George Floyd in the United States – a man was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, and whose death sparked an uprising. against police brutality and racism.

Mayor Lopez cried as he read the report.

The anger fueling Colombia's protest movement won't go away anytime soon

“This report is painful to the soul, but it is a necessary step to rescue and restore our democratic state,” she said.

It is not clear if Lopez herself faced legal action as the top official in charge of public safety in Bogota at the time of the protests.

Earlier this year, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights accused Colombian security forces of using “disproportionate and excessive force” against protesters protesting a range of issues from income inequality and allegations about police brutality.

Protesters have faced violence that has left at least 25 people dead. According to Colombia’s interior ministry, 11 of them are related to the police force.

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