Colombia: Paramilitary group threatens indigenous protesters with ‘social cleansing’

Source: Amnesty International

Colombia: Paramilitary group threatens indigenous protesters with ‘social cleansing’
21 October 2013

There are serious ongoing concerns for the safety of indigenous protesters in Colombia amid escalating violence against them by the security forces and after their leaders received a death threat from a right-wing paramilitary group, Amnesty International said.

Dozens of indigenous protesters, including many children, have already been injured when Colombian security forces appear to have used excessive force against the demonstrations, which started on 12 October and continue in several regions of the country.

Fears of further violence have been compounded in the past week after the Rastrojos paramilitary group called for “social cleansing” of indigenous leaders and groups involved in the protests.

“Most of the evidence gathered by Amnesty International in several parts of Colombia points to a deeply worrying and largely disproportionate use of force against the indigenous protesters by the police and the armed forces,” said Marcelo Pollack, Amnesty International Researcher on Colombia.

Read more: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/colombia-paramilitary-group-threatens-indigenous-protesters-social-cleansing-2013-10-21