Report reveals illegal detention and torture in Colombia protests

‘These events are extremely serious and must be investigated diligently, independently and impartially,’ Amnesty International says. Through an “exhaustive digital verification” of images and videos, Amnesty also confirmed that National Police officials permitted acts of violence and urban paramilitarism by armed civilians against demonstrators and human rights activists. “n a country battered by decades of paramilitary violence, these events are extremely serious and must be investigated diligently, independently and impartially.” The report analyses, in particular, a violent police incursion into the Cali neighbourhood of Siloé, an attack on the Indigenous Minga by armed civilians as police looked on, as well as attacks by police and civilians against protesters at Valle University, where several demonstrators allege torture and inhumane treatment during their unlawful detention. Amnesty’s report came three weeks after the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous body in the Organization of American States, concluded the Colombian government used “excessive and disproportionate” force during the protests. Human Rights Watch last month also called out “egregious” police abuse during the protests and demanded the government “take urgent measures to protect human rights”.