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US lawmakers want to suspend aid to Colombia's police
by Adriaan Alsema May 15, 2021
Members of US Congress called on the government of President Joe Biden to suspend all aid to Colombia’s police, which is being accused of gross human rights violations to quell anti-government protests.
In a letter, the 55 house representatives urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to reject the violence and suspend all direct aid to the National Police, with the exception of human rights training.
Colombia’s security forces, especially its National Police, are more unleashed than we have seen in decades of strife – hundreds of citizen videos show aggressive, indiscriminate use of lethal and non-lethal weapons against citizens in ways that violate both Colombian law and international human rights standards.
The lawmakers explicitly urged Blinken to “ensure that the Colombian National Police Mobile Anti-Disturbances Squadron (ESMAD) riot police unit is not receiving grant assistance from the United States, directly or indirectly.”
US lawmakers
. . .
US Congressmen previously warned that the ongoing police brutality could trigger the so-called Leahy Law, provisions that prohibit the US Government of sensing military aid to countries grossly violating human rights.
More:
https://colombiareports.com/lawmakers-want-us-to-suspend-aid-to-colombias-police/
