Following the appearance of alleged paramilitary pamphlets, 97 people have been killed and two disappeared in acts of "social cleansing" throughout Colombia, independent investigation center CINEP has announced.
According to investigators, pamphlets threatening to kill prostitutes, drug users and "weirdos" appeared in almost three-quarters of the country. In regions where the pamphlets were most widely distributed - the capital Bogota and the departments of Norte de Santander, Cordoba and Boyaca - the pamphlets were followed by higher numbers of reports of disappeared or murdered teenagers, prostitutes and people from the GLBT community.
The study showed that people from poor neighborhoods are most vulnerable to threats, forced disappearance and murder by the alleged paramilitary groups.
"We are very concerned that the use of fear and threats has become a tool for social control," CINEP executive Jorge Julio Mejía told Caracol Radio.
The threatening pamphlets appeared first in Medellin and appeared later in dozens of other Colombian cities. Authorities previously blamed the FARC for spreading the threats, but NGOs say paramilitary groups are responsible.
lampltr
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... This is a very difficult situation....this has happened in my neighborhood in Risaralda, one was a neighbor who we found out "after the fact" was involved in extortion/kidnapping. Why was this person not picked up by DAS/Guila? what other acts of terrorism was this person for an example involved in? Is numerous other cases. Know social justice in unjust but is the government or local law enforcement does nothing then.....Again very difficult situation. We now look at situation in Med. police cannot control the murders and crime, even after injecting more law enforcement in the barrios but still cannot control anything, does the government just need to turn a cheek and let this crime go own and possibly expand? of course not, but now we have the Para's stepping in....Again very difficult |
And.
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... lampltr, I don't think 'social justice' is the term that you were looking for.' You can twirl and spin it around as much as you want, but it is still 'social cleansing.' The para eliminate those elements of society that they deem undesirable. It is the para who represent the biggest threat to Colombian society. They aren't traveling around dispensing some form of misguided social justice. The are not solving anything. This article is about the mass murder of 97 people by the para. Think about that. Who else in Colombia commits murder on such a scale? How can you even attempt to justify what they are doing? They aren't combating crime - they are the worst kind of crime. |
Margaret
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