The dramatic increase in violence in Colombia is condemned by the UN
Despite cease-fires between the government and armed groups, there were over 50 massacres in Colombia in the first half of this year, a rise of 11%, the UN said on Tuesday. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ local representative, Juliette De Rivero, bemoaned the escalating violence.
She added in Bogota as she delivered a report on the country’s humanitarian crisis, “In the confirmed massacres, we continue to observe that a large number of them are perpetrated by non-state armed groups and criminal organizations.”
Through June, 168 people have died as a result of the 52 massacres, which the United Nations defines as the simultaneous killing of at least three persons. This number included 19 children. President Gustavo Petro declared a bilateral truce with five of the largest armed factions in the nation late last year.
The National Liberation Army reopened hostilities, shattering the socialist president’s lofty ambition for a “total peace” in the nation racked by violence. The opposition claims that this approach has given criminal organizations room to grow and launch attacks on the nation’s security forces.
