He Minister of Defense, Ivan Velasquezcondemned the retention of 26 soldiers and two policemen on behalf of peasants and hooded men in the patía (Cauca). He said that it was inadmissible that the action of the public force has been interrupted and that he hopes that the peasants who have detained the uniformed men have been instrumentalized by illegal armed organizations.
“The attitude assumed by peasants in El Patía (Cauca) is inadmissible, preventing a group of soldiers, in compliance with their constitutional duty, but also directly complying with the orders of the President of the Republic regarding the frontal fight against drug trafficking. They prevent the fulfillment of the function assigned to the anti-drug trafficking battalion No. 3, which intended to destroy cocaine laboratories, a task that has been interrupted, hindered, by these peasants, which I hope is due precisely to the instrumentalization of illegal armed organizations, which are the ones that They directly benefit from these illicit activities.”
Minister Velásquez also said that citizens must unite efforts, surround the public force and work together in the fight against drug trafficking: “our population must support its public force, must surround it to protect it, not to prevent the fulfillment of its functions.” . And he asked the general commander of the Military Forces and the commander of the Army “to carry out all the verifications to determine who is behind this work of obstruction that the peasants in Patía have been carrying out.”
He also confirmed that a commission is moving towards the patía to dialogue with the community and obtain the release of the soldiers. Minister Velásquez noted that “there is no off-limits terrain for the operation of the public force, they have the obligation to control the territory and prevent situations like this from happening again.”
From Human Rights Watch They called for respect for the human rights of the soldiers and police detained on the sidewalk The Aguada Of the municipality of the patía:
“We call for respect for the Human Rights of the soldiers illegally detained in Patia, Cauca. Officials from the Municipal Personería, the Ombudsman’s Office traveled to the area to mediate in the situation and obtain their release.
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26 soldiers and Two policemen corregimiento de Santa Cruzin the village of La Aguada in the municipality of the patíain the department of Cauca. The uniformed men, according to the first information, were going to destroy a cocaine processing laboratory that would belong to the in front of Carlos Patino of the dissidences of the farc. There, residents surrounded them and are holding them. After confirming the retention of the uniformed officers, several Army aircraft flew over the area.
Among the detained uniformed officers is the head of the DIRAN Regional 4 basic criminal investigation unit.
In videos circulating on social networks, the uniformed men are seen — who belong, according to information from the National Army, to the Command Against Drug Trafficking and Transnational Threats (Conat)—surrounded by hooded men, who prevented them from continuing with the operation in which they sought to destroy a cocaine processing laboratory. The uniformed men were taken to a communal hall.
According to information from various media, the detention of the uniformed officers occurred around 10:30 am on May 11. After the fact was confirmed, several Army aircraft flew over the area, and, according to Time, It is hoped that with the mediation of a delegation from the Ombudsmanthe Municipal Ombudsman and of the Town hall of the patíawho moved to the area, an agreement is reached with the community so that they allow the uniformed officers to resume their work.
In a joint statement, the Command Against Drug Trafficking and Transnational Threats and the Air Assault Aviation Division of the National Army rejected the retention of the uniformed officers and announced that “the respective complaints will be filed with the competent authorities for kidnapping and riotamong other punishable conducts that could be configured”.
