Politicians demand return of 'exterminated' communist party .
Politicians demand return of 'exterminated' communist party .
Monday, 28 May 2012 10:10
Victoria Rossi
Colombia's defunct communist party may soon revive, due to a lawsuit claiming it met its end through "political genocide," Colombian sources reported.
The Patriotic Union (UP) party lost legal status after receiving little more than 1,000 votes in the 2002 congressional elections. But according to the lawsuit, the group's poor electoral performance can be explained by one key fact: many of its leaders -- and members -- weren't alive for the elections.
Since its founding in 1985, the communist party and political arm of the FARC has seen more than 3,000 of its members killed by various paramilitary groups, including presidential candidates, congressional and local representatives.
At least one of its leaders was also killed by the state, according to a 2010 ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which held the Colombian government responsible for the assassination in 1994 of UP Senator Manuel Cepeda.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/24273-politicians-demand-return-of-exterminated-communist-party.html
