State, ‘paramilitaries’ responsible for most of Colombia’s human rights violations: Report

State, ‘paramilitaries’ responsible for most of Colombia’s human rights violations: Report
Sep 22, 2014 posted by Joel Gillin

The vast majority of human rights violations in Colombia last year were committed by paramilitaries and government forces, according to a conflict analysis NGO.

In the report published this summer by the Center for Research and Public Education (CINEP), the group registered a total of 1,332 human rights violations against Colombian civilians last year.

Groups that had emerged from officially defunct paramilitary organization AUC were the biggest offenders, responsible for some 44% of the violations, while state forces, including the military and police, were responsible for 43%. The FARC and other guerrilla groups committed about 15% of the violations.

2013 human rights violations in Colombia

Neo-paramilitary groups like the Urabeños or the Aguilas Negras were suspected of carrying out the vast majority of homicides and threats, while the police received most complaints over assault.

The numbers released by CINEP are in line with figures from a recent report by the Colombian NGO “Somos Defensores” which claimed that of the 194 crimes against community leaders, five of the known perpetrators were from the FARC or ELN. Paramilitaries and state forces were responsible for 128 of these crimes.

Sources
•Banco de Datos de Derechos Humanos y Violencia Politica (CINEP/Noche y Niebla)

http://colombiareports.co/state-paramilitaries-human-rights-violations/