On July 24, PBI-Colombia tweeted: “Tribute with @Justiciaypazcol at Portal Kennedy #Bogotá to build dignity and demand clarification of the forced disappearance and subsequent death of Duban Barros during #protests in #Colombia.”

The Justice and Peace Commission also tweeted this video of the mural with the text: “In beauty a tribute to life in Duban Barros.”

Seventeen-year-old Duban Felipe Barros disappeared on June 5 at Portal Americas in Bogota during a national strike protest in Bogotá.

Colombia Informa has reported that when Duban did not return home: “His mom and sisters began looking for him in hospitals.”

“The Nydia Erika Bautista Human Rights Foundation has been accompanying the case. One of the foundation’s defenders emphasized the seriousness of the Dubai case and referred the complaint to the Attorney General’s Office to speed up the search for the young man and activate all urgent search mechanisms.”

W Radio highlights that Duban’s mother reported him missing on June 7, but that authorities did not begin the search for him until June 15.

On July 11, the authorities contacted Duban’s mother and she was able to identify his lifeless body (even though Bogota Metropolitan Police Commander Brigadier General Eliécer Camacho has stated Duban’s body was found on June 5, the day of his disappearance, and taken to the Forensic Medicine morgue).

On July 21, Caracol reported: “The Attorney General’s Office opened preliminary investigations against undetermined national police officials into the disappearance and death.”

Colombia Informa notes: “The Campaign to Defend Freedom has registered between April 28 and June 22, 84 people allegedly disappeared as part of the protests that have developed during the National Strike. According to the same campaign, during these days of mobilization, the disappearance has been part of the repertoire of violence and repression by the State against the demonstrators.”

The Chicago Tribune reports: “Almost three months later [after the start of the national strike], the Prosecutor’s Office is keeping the urgent search mechanism active for 63 people.”

That article adds: “After its visit to Colombia, the IACHR [Inter-American Commission on Human Rights] recommended that the Colombian State create a special commission to find out the whereabouts of the people who are still reported missing.”

A 10-second video clip of the mural is here.

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