Despite the historic peace agreement between the Colombia government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in November 2016, the armed conflict continues in various regions of the country. Since January 16 of this year, the National Liberation Army (ELN) has been carrying out a campaign to regain control of large parts of the trans-border Catatumbo River region (Colombia-Venezuela), a strategic location for drug production and trafficking in North Santander Department. They have killed, assaulted, kidnapped, and disappeared civilians whom they accuse of having ties with the 33rd Front, a dissident faction of the demobilized FARC. Fighting and abuses by both sides have reportedly forced over 56,000 people to flee their homes, one of the largest mass displacements in Colombia in decades.
Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations are facing threats. Catatumbo Mothers for Peace (MCP), for example, provides shelter and psychosocial support to displaced women. On June 25, MCP denounced a series of defamatory content published on a digital platform, which included direct threats to Carmen García, president of the association. Less than two weeks later, two individuals on motorcycles grabbed her son in front of the group’s women’s shelter in Cúcuta, beat him, and dragged him along the asphalt, causing severe physical and psychological injuries.
We are urging that authorities in Colombia coordinate a protection scheme for Carmen García and her family and implement a comprehensive plan to ensure that all human rights defenders in Catatumbo are able to operate without threats and abuse.