In a letter addressed to Defense Minister Diego Molano, the US organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) accuses him of being minimizing the humanitarian situation that is being experienced in the departments of Arauca and Vichada as a result of clashes between illegal armed groups.
(Also read: Situation in Vichada and Arauca is dramatic, says HRW)
In the edition of EL TIEMPO on Tuesday, March 29, Molano referred to a recent report published by HRW where it documents the abuses that the dissidents of the Farc and the Eln have been committing against the civilian population, as well as the drama experienced by those who have been displaced by this conflict.
(You may be interested: Venezuelan security forces are accomplices of the Eln, HRW complaint)
¨Unfortunately, his statements seem aimed at downplaying the humanitarian situation in the region and the urgent need for the Colombian authorities to strengthen their measures to protect the civilian population and assist the victims”, says Tamara Taraciuk, acting director for the Americas at HRW, in the letter.
In his statements, the defense minister maintains that the threats to the civilian population “they originate from the other side, from Venezuela” and that the Colombian security forces are helping to find better security conditions.
(Also read: Dissidents are subcontracting terrorist attacks: mindefensa)
¨As we document in our report, members of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces and the Bolivarian National Guard have participated in joint operations with ELN guerrillas and have been complicit in their abuses in Venezuela. However, the Eln and the Farc dissidents of the so-called Joint Command of the East also operate in Arauca, where they have committed multiple abuses, including homicides, disappearances, forced displacement and recruitment of minors. According to statistics from the Colombian National Police, Arauca currently has the highest homicide rate at least since 2010¨, Taraciuk affirms in the letter, which was known by this newspaper.
According to the NGO, Molano also alleges in EL TIEMPO that so far he has not received information on displacements to the department of Vichada. that make it necessary to establish committees for the care of victims or that a complex humanitarian situation has become evident.
“However,” Taraciuk told the minister, “since January, as humanitarian agencies in the country have repeatedly reported, more than 1,800 people, including Colombians and Venezuelans, have been displaced in Puerto Carreño and other Vichada municipalities. , fleeing the abuses of armed groups in Venezuela. As we have documented in our report, these people do not have sufficient access to food, drinking water and health services, and many of them live in makeshift shelters on the banks of the Meta River.
(You may be interested: ‘HRW confirms that there is an alliance between the Venezuelan military and Eln’: mindefensa)
HRW also questions that despite the fact that the government claims to have activated a transitional justice committee to care for victims of forced displacement in the department of Arauca, “to date, unfortunately, assistance and protection for the displaced population has been insufficient.” and the authorities have not yet assessed the total number of people confined in Arauca and their needs. Due to the poor conditions in which they found themselves, some displaced persons have decided to return to their communities despite the fact that they face serious security risks there.
In the letter, the NGO asks the Minister to urgently adopt adequate measures to protect the civilian population and assist the victims.
SERGIO GOMEZ MASERI
Correspondent of THE TIME
Washington
On Twitter @sergom68
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