Bogota Colombia recorded a total of 94 massacres and 44 signatories of the peace agreement murdered in 2023, according to the balance of the year published by the Institute of Peace Studies (Indepaz).
According to the report “Violence in Colombia”, 188 people who exercised some type of leadership or defense of Human Rights, including 20 minors between 16 and 18 years old, were murdered in Colombia between January 1 and December 28 of 2023.
During 2023 in Colombia, a total of 94 massacres were committed, leaving a balance of at least 303 victims. Although the figures are high, the Indepaz publication reflected “a decrease in the number of victims” compared to 2022, the year closed with 343 victims.
Likewise, a decrease was recorded, during 2023 seven fewer people were murdered than in 2022, which recorded 50 murders.
Most of these massacres took place in “main cities and their metropolitan areas” and “many of them as a consequence of disputes between local armed actors over economies such as microtrafficking, extortion and control over drug routes to distribution centers.” broader,” the document highlighted.
Indepaz highlighted that the situation in the departments of Cauca, Antioquia, Nariño and Valle del Cauca is “worrying”, “these being the places and social sectors where the murders were concentrated.”
In addition, 167,540 forced displacement events were recorded in the country between January 1 and November 30, 2023.
Minors related to activities of armed groups
In its annual report, Indepaz placed particular emphasis on the involvement of children and adolescents in activities related to armed groups.
The document details that minors between 12 and 17 years old are the main victims of links to activities of the different armed groups in the national territory.
Until November 30, 2023, 86 events involving children and adolescents in activities related to armed groups were recorded in the departments of Cauca, Arauca and Antioquia.
Cauca is not only the department most affected by acts of violence in general, but it has also become the most worrying scenario in the country for children and adolescents, given that “the pressure through violence exerted by armed groups has become a target for violations of Human Rights and IHL (International Humanitarian Law), which is expressed in different types of links in armed groups, where they perform the tasks of messengers, recruiters, bell ringers, among other activities.
Source: EUROPA PRESS
