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Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
Mon Jun 21, 2021, 01:11 AM Jun 2021

Police Brutality and The Need for Reform in Colombia


Posted On : June 17, 2021 Published By : Giovanni Andrade

In Colombia, and many other countries in Latin America, security forces have cracked down brutally on protestors in interactions that have been captured on camera and shared widely on both social media and conventional media. These videos reveal excessive, and, in some cases, lethal force used against protestors by The National Police of Colombia, including its infamous Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD). Police can be seen beating, shooting, detaining and even killing protesters, as well as launching tear gas canisters. These repressive approaches, which have become more prevalent during recent protests in the country, highlight serious police brutality and a need for urgent police reform.

Background

On April 28, tens of thousands of Colombians took to the streets in several cities—including Bogotá, Medellín, Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Cali—to oppose President Iván Duque’s proposed tax reform in response to the economic crisis generated by the pandemic, which many working and middle-class Colombians say would have disproportionately impacted them while favouring the rich. Although the tax reform proposal was eventually withdrawn and the finance minister resigned, the protests continued to expand as popular anger has been fueled by police violence, widespread poverty, social inequality and political corruption.

Police Brutality

Colombia’s national police have responded to the mostly peaceful protests with violent repression, leaving at least 68 people dead . There are additional reports by Colombia’s Human Rights ombudsman and Temblores, which is an organization that tracks police brutality of hundreds injured and arbitrarily detained. Many people have disappeared in the midst of the protests and there have been least eleven cases of sexual violence. The human rights violations committed against protestors have been condemned by the United Nations and the international community.

President Duque, and his colleagues in the right-wing Democratic Center like former President Alvaro Uribe, alleged that guerrillas and criminals “infiltrated” the protests and was said to be “glorif[ying] violence” against protestors online. These narratives and justifications of the use of force against protestors can have tremendous influence among some sectors of the police and armed forces, who admire the former president for his hard-line stance against guerrillas.

More:
https://mjps.ssmu.ca/2021/06/17/police-brutality-and-the-need-for-reform-in-colombia/
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