On May 28, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project tweeted: “PBI accompanied Nomadesc in Cali. They demand guarantees for the exercise of the right to social protest and freedom of expression and justice for the thousands of cases of violations of human rights registered during the national strike.”

Between April 28 (the first day of the national strike) and May 27, Temblores recorded 3,405 cases of police violence, 1,445 cases of arbitrary detention, and 22 victims of sexual violence committed by the Public Force (police and military).

On May 30, the Financial Times reported: “Of the 66 people killed nationwide, 38 were in Cali and a further 11 in the region, according to Indepaz.”

Sebastián Lanz of Temblores says: “Cali has become the epicentre of the discontent. We’ve seen members of the security forces armed to the teeth attacking civilians who are exercising their legitimate right to demonstrate.”

The Financial Times article further provides the context: “The south-west also has a big and vocal indigenous population. On the first day of the protests, indigenous activists in Cali ripped down a statue of Sebastían Benalcázar, the Spaniard who led the 16th-century conquest of this part of Colombia.”

WOLA has also noted: “Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city with a high number of residents of African descent, has suffered as many as 46 homicides, in addition to an obviously racist attack on a Nasa indigenous caravan that entered the city in early May to peacefully support protesters.”

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