The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project accompanied Justice and Peace Commission is amplifying the call for international solidarity, the demilitarization of urban areas, and a dismantling of the ESMAD riot police.

This is in the context of Temblores reporting that there have been 1,181 cases of police violence, 26 deaths, and 761 arbitrary detentions between Wednesday, April 28 (the day of the National Strike/Paro Nacional) and Monday, May 3.

On May 3, the Justice and Peace Commission posted:

“Ciudadanías por la Paz de Colombia [Citizens for Peace of Colombia], an organization of Colombians living in Colombia and abroad, calls on the international community to speak out against the police violence that the Colombian people suffer in a systematic way, which demands the demilitarization of urban areas, the dismantling of the anti-riot squad ESMAD and a fundamental restructuring of the forces of order.”

(The Nation has reported: “Since its inception in 1999, the ESMAD has killed 34 people, according to a 2019 Temblores report. Most victims have been activists within Indigenous, student, or peasant movements.”)

“Likewise, Ciudadanías speaks out against the systematic violation of human rights committed against leaders and social leaders, members of the opposition and signatories of the Peace Accords, events denounced by several NGOs for several years.”

“We turn to the support of the international community because their support is today more than ever, essential and necessary to generate pressure before the Colombian government in order to truly commit itself to respect the peace process, human rights, and dignity.”

And while the Colombian president has now promised to withdraw his proposed tax reform (that would have placed a 19 percent tax on drinking water for some and may have also increased the retirement age), the statement highlights:

“The protest does not concern only the withdrawal of the tax reform, but the entire policy of the government of Iván Duque Márquez and the majority party Democratic Center, for having blocked the implementation of the Peace Accords, for not protecting the social leaders who are assassinated almost daily (more than 480 during his mandate) in addition to the corruption in all orders that has characterized his government. The protesters are also demanding basic income for rural and indigenous communities and for low-income people who have suffered the most from the consequences of the pandemic.”

The full post can be read here.

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has accompanied the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission since 1994.