On June 29, the Bogotá-based Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP), announced that it was investigating 240 attacks on members of the press amid demonstrations that have been ongoing for the past two months, including 138 attacks by police. Two of those assaults happened on that very day. In Bogotá, police officers of the ESMAD unit (Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios, or Anti-Riot Squad) assaulted two journalists while they covered protests for the independent broadcaster RCN Radio. Katy Sánchez, a reporter, and Alexandra Molina, an intern, were attacked by police officers while they were filming ESMAD police beating and kicking a youth during the demonstration. One officer shoved Katy Sánchez to the ground with his shield, kicked her in the back, and hit her with his nightstick, leaving her with a badly sprained left ankle and bloodied knees—injuries that would prevent her from working for at least a week. We demand that the government of Colombia protect both the demonstrators and journalists who are reporting on their legitimate activities—activities that should be protected by their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.

In a letter to the president and attorney general of Colombia, we expressed our outrage at the alarming rate of assassinations of social leaders across Colombia, especially in Antioquia Department. Social leader Ángel Miro Cartagena Correa, a member of Community Association of High Quality Coffee Producers of Dabeiba (APROCAD), went missing on June 14. His tortured body was found in the Urama River in the rural area of Dabeiba municipality, Antioquia, on the afternoon of June 20. We are urging authorities in Colombia to (1) conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the assassination of Ángel Miro Cartagena Correa, publish the results, and bring the perpetrators to justice; (2) seek all necessary strategies to guarantee the life and integrity of social leaders in Antioquia, in strict accordance with their wishes; (3) join with the National Commission of Security Guarantees to establish and implement policies that will identify, prosecute, and dismantle the intellectual authors, financiers, and members of the neo-paramilitary and other criminal groups that are continuing to interfere with the implementation of the peace process

We wrote to the president and attorney general of Colombia about the alarming rate of assassinations of social leaders across Colombia, now at 80 for this year. Diana María Jaramillo Henao became one of the latest victims on June 20. Diana Jaramillo (age 49) was dedicated to community work in the 5 Estrellas neighborhood of La Gabriela, municipality of Bello in Antioquia Department. She was murdered along with a married couple: Wilson Alfonso Zapata Guisao (age 51) and Nubia Isleny Pérez Cárdenas (age 50). Police reported the discovery of their bodies put in bags and sealed with tape. We are urging authorities in Colombia to: (1) conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the killing of Diana María Jaramillo Henao, Wilson Alfonso Zapata Guisao, and Nubia Isleny Pérez Cárdenas, publish the results, and bring the perpetrators to justice, and (2) seek all necessary strategies to guarantee the life and integrity of social leaders in Antioquia, in strict accordance with their wishes.

State-sponsored violence against popular demonstrations has continued over the past several weeks, resulting in the deaths of more than 40 Colombians. In the Usme neighborhood of south Bogotá on June 21, ESMAD repeatedly attacked demonstrators, killing one person, injuring at least 42 and arresting many more. Jaime Alonso Fandiño, age 33, was killed after an ESMAD agent shot him in the chest with a high-powered projectile from close range. Media reports said that ESMAD agents also attacked medical teams and journalists, while threatening at least two human rights observers.

State-sponsored violence against popular demonstrations across Colombia has left upwards of 40 people dead. We are calling on the government to: (1) withdraw all military personnel from the streets because soldiers are trained for armed conflict, not for public safety; (2) investigate all reports of violence against demonstrators by security personnel and address any violations of human rights; (3) continue official talks with the National Strike Committee, which represents various groups including indigenous people, unions, environmentalists and students, to discuss key demands; (4) stop stigmatizing protesters and suggesting that they are linked to armed rebel groups; (5) guarantee the rights of peaceful assembly and to protest