The FARC increases to 214 the number of ex-guerrillas killed since the peace agreement
The FARC party revealed on Tuesday that 214 former guerrillas have been assassinated since the signing of the peace agreement with the Colombian government in November 2016, a figure higher than the 200 they had handled until the beginning of the month.
"Today we reach the heartbreaking number of 214 peace signatories assassinated. The new number comes after an exhaustive review carried out between the different components of the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force (FARC) and the instances generated after the signing of the peace agreement," he reported. the party in a statement.
According to the information, the verification processes for the murders of the signatories "have been complex", conditions mitigated by "the presence of armed actors, fear of reprisals, distance and access to adequate means."
The party reported that when updating the list of murdered demobilized persons they found differences, such as that some were killed during the period between the signing of the agreement and the start of the accreditation process with the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace (OACP).
Other names had not been taken into account because they were not accredited by the OACP, although they were on the FARC lists, while some of the killings were not known because they occurred in countries bordering Colombia, such as Ecuador.
"We warn that we are facing the attack on a national group that has special protection of IHL (International Humanitarian Law) for being signatories to a peace agreement. The dream of a stable and lasting peace cannot continue to take the lives of those who bet on it her, "the FARC warned.
NEGATIVE WATERFALL FOR PEACE
Crimes against demobilized people are one of the biggest obstacles to the implementation of peace in Colombia, according to a report published in mid-June by the Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame (USA).
The document emphasized that the murder of more than 200 ex-FARC guerrillas who accepted the agreement signed with the Government is the "main negative cascade" for the Colombian peace process because it generates the feeling that "nothing is being advanced" .
Due to the situation of the signatories, the leaders of the political party had a virtual meeting on June 10 with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, who asked for international assistance to avoid what they called a "genocide. "of ex-combatants.
On December 31 of last year, the UN warned that in 2019 at least 77 ex-guerrillas were killed in Colombia, and also denounced 14 disappearances and 29 attempted homicides.
Those murders led the agency to classify 2019 as "the most violent year" for the ex-FARC guerrillas who accepted the peace agreement.
