Urgent: State Violence Escalates Against Protesters in Buenaventura
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- Published on Friday, 02 June 2017 15:45
- Written by editor
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UPDATE
State Violence Escalates Against Protesters in Buenaventura, Colombia!
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CoDev’s partner NOMADESC in Valle de Cauca, Colombia has sent us this update regarding state repression of the ongoing civic general strike in the Pacific port of Buenaventura:
Dozens of community members have been injured, and at least 10 shot, since early morning June 2 when state security forces launched a new brutal offensive against strikers throughout Buenaventura. Residents also report a new and growing presence of unidentified armed men in the streets. Riot police have been bolstered by government military units arriving in helicopters from sea and land in neighbourhoods such as Isla de la Paz, Via Alterna, Oriente and La Cima, where gun shots and detonations of tear-gas canisters can be heard.
Some 400 more Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squadrons police (ESMAD), backed by anti-riot vehicles, arrived in the city the night before in order to break the civic strikers’ road blocks and “accompany” a caravan of trucks out of the port. At least 10 young men have been shot and are in critical condition in local clinics. Hundreds of people are being treated for asphyxia related to the tear gas attacks, including four babies under two months of age. NOMADESC reports that some of the victims have been questioned in the clinics by unidentified gunmen.
Meanwhile, negotiations between the Buenaventura Civic Strike Committee and the central government to seek a resolution to the roots of the conflict, have been transferred to Bogota, in order to involve higher level government authorities in the talks.
NOMADESC is calling for permanent accompaniment by the United Nations and International Human Rights organizations, as well as solidarity from the international community.
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Thank you for signing up to receive urgent action notifications. It is with the support of dedicated people like you that we are able to respond quickly when threats are issued against the Latin American communities with whom we work. This is solidarity in action and you are an integral part of it.
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A peaceful protester being attacked by ESMAD in Buenaventura.
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