Rights group says Colombian rebels committed abuses against civilians in disputed region
In a 12-page report, Human Rights Watch accused the rebels of executing unarmed farmers and forcibly recruiting dozens of children into their ranks. The group also called on Colombia's government to speed up investigations into homicides in Catatumbo, where at least 78 people were killed in January and February, after a truce ended between rebel groups in the area.
'Our research points to widespread abuses against ordinary people,' said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director for HRW.
According to the Colombian Human Rights Ombudsman's Office, more than 56,000 people have been displaced from their homes in the Catatumbo region since Jan. 16, when the National Liberation Army, or ELN, launched a violent campaign to strengthen its grip on the area.
Human Rights Watch said that in some villages, the rebels dragged people out of their homes and shot those who they accused of being collaborators of a rival group known as the FARC-EMC.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 65 people for its investigation, including judicial officials, aid workers and displaced farmers.
'It seems that the ELN is trying to control the border with Venezuela, partly due to the drug trade,' said Juan Pappier, Human Rights Watch deputy director for the Americas. 'And for that they've long benefited from the complicity of Venezuelan security forces.'
Some people who fled the Catatumbo region told Human Rights Watch that the ELN executed farmers in front of their families.
Others accused the FARC-EMC group of running forced labor camps, where local people who were accused of committing crimes were forced to cut sugar cane for more than 12 hours a day.
Human Rights Watch urged Colombia's Attorney General's office to increase the number of prosecutors and investigators in the Catatumbo region, and to provide protection for them, so that these crimes can be further investigated.
The Colombian government suspended peace talks with the ELN on Jan. 20, after news emerged of the ELN's attacks on several villages in Catatumbo.
President Gustavo Petro, who was a member of a rebel group during his youth, has accused the ELN's leadership of becoming 'greedy' drug traffickers and of abandoning their revolutionary ideals.
Violence decreased in Colombia following a 2016 peace deal with the nation's largest rebel group, FARC, in which more than 13,000 fighters laid down their weapons.
But some isolated areas, including the Catatumbo region, have seen an uptick in homicides, extorsion and forced displacement, as smaller groups fight for control of territories abandoned by the FARC.
The National Liberation Army, has an estimated 6,000 fighters in Venezuela and Colombia, according to Colombia's Ministry of Defense.
____
Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
25 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
U.S. offers $50 million for Maduro's arrest, calling him a top narco-trafficker
The U.S. government announced on Thursday an unprecedented $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro, accusing him of heading one of the world's most dangerous narco-trafficking networks. The reward, which doubles the previous offer, was revealed in a video posted on social media by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said the Maduro regime has become a direct threat to U.S. national security. Bondi accused Maduro of using foreign terrorist and criminal organizations —including the Tren de Aragua gang, the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel, and the Venezuelan Cartel de los Soles, Cartel of the Suns — to flood the U.S. with cocaine. 'He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security. Therefore, we've doubled his reward to $50 million,' Bondi said in the video. 'Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like TDA, Sinaloa and Cartel of the Suns to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country.' In the video, Bondi also announced the seizure of more than $700 million in Maduro-linked assets, including two private jets, nine vehicles and various properties. Despite these enforcement actions, Bondi warned, 'Maduro's reign of terror continues.' Although Maduro was not among the early Venezuelan officials tied to narco-trafficking during the previous Hugo Chávez presidency, a federal indictment filed in New York shows his rise through the ranks of the Cartel of the Suns, a drug organization embedded within the Venezuelan military. According to court documents, Maduro gained increasing influence in the cartel after Chávez's death in 2013, eventually becoming one of its top leaders. The indictment notes that Maduro 'helped manage and, ultimately, lead the Cártel de Los Soles,' as the drug operation became intertwined with the Venezuelan state. While other top leaders in the Venezuelan regime such as Diosdado Cabello and Tareck El Aissami were often seen as the cartel's figureheads, the new evidence suggests Maduro's role was far more significant than previously believed. The indictment claims the purpose of Venezuela's drug trafficking apparatus goes beyond self-enrichment. The cartel, it says, aimed 'to flood the United States with cocaine and inflict the drug's harmful and addictive effects on users in this country.' U.S. authorities had estimated earlier this decade that more than 250 tons of cocaine transit through Venezuela annually, but recent intelligence reports suggest that number may have doubled in recent years to compensate for the shortfall in revenue caused by U.S. sanctions on the country's oil industry.
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Judge blocks Trump's birthright order nationwide in fourth such ruling since Supreme Court decision
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge in Maryland late Thursday ruled President Donald Trump's administration cannot withhold citizenship from children born to people in the country illegally or temporarily, issuing the fourth court decision blocking the president's birthright citizenship order nationwide since a key U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman's preliminary injunction was expected after the judge said last month she would issue such an order if the case were returned to her by an appeals court. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to her later in July. Since June, two other district courts, as well as an appellate panel of judges, have also blocked the birthright order nationwide. An email to the White House for comment was not immediately returned. Trump's January order would deny citizenship to children born to parents living in the U.S. illegally or temporarily. Boardman in February issued a preliminary injunction blocking it nationwide. But the June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upended that decision and other court rulings blocking the order across the nation. The justices ruled that lower courts generally can't issue nationwide injunctions, but they didn't rule out other court orders that could have nationwide effects, including in class-action lawsuits and those brought by states. In her ruling Thursday, Boardman certified a class of all children who have been born or will be born in the United States after February 19, 2025, who would be affected by Trump's order. She said the plaintiffs in the lawsuit before her were 'extremely likely' to win their argument that the birthright order violates the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which includes a citizenship clause that says all people born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to U.S. jurisdiction, are citizens. They were also likely to suffer irreparable harm if the order went into effect, she wrote.
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump orders increased federal law enforcement presence in Washington to 'make DC safe again'
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Thursday night that there will be increased presence of federal law enforcement in the nation's capital to combat crime for at least the next week, amid President Donald Trump 's suggestions that his administration could fully take over running the city. 'Washington, DC is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. 'President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens.' She added that the increased federal presence means 'there will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C.' Trump has repeatedly suggested that the rule of Washington could be returned to federal authorities. Doing so would require a repeal of the Home Rule Act of 1973 in Congress, a step Trump said lawyers are examining — but could face steep pushback. 'We have a capital that's very unsafe,' Trump told reporters at the White House this week. 'We have to run D.C.' The White House said the increased law enforcement would 'make D.C. safe again' and would be present on the streets starting at midnight — led by U.S. Park Police following an 11 p.m. Thursday roll call at an established command center. The push will last the next seven days with the option to extend 'as needed," under the authority of Trump's previous executive order establishing the Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force. The added federal officials will be identified, in marked units and highly visible, the White House said. Participating law enforcement include personnel from the U.S. Capitol Police, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Protective Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. The police forces for Amtrak and the city's Metro rail service are also involved. Trump has long suggested crime and violence is on the rise in Washington, and has lately begun to criticize things like litter and graffiti. But the catalyst for the order to increase police presence was the assault last weekend on a high-profile member of the Department of Government Efficiency by a group of teenagers in an attempted carjacking. The victim, Edward Coristine, nicknamed 'Big Balls,' was among the most visible figures of DOGE, which was tasked with cutting jobs and slashing the federal bureaucracy. Police arrested two 15-year-olds and say they're still looking for other members of the group. 'If D.C. doesn't get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they're not going to get away with it anymore,' Trump posted on Truth Social earlier this week. The president subsequently said he was considering repealing Washington's limited Home Rule autonomy or 'bringing in the National Guard, maybe very quickly.' Thursday's announcement comes as Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser's government can claim to have reduced the number of homicides and carjackings — both of which spiked citywide in 2023. Carjackings in Washington overall dropped significantly the following year in 2024, from 957 to just under 500, and the number is on track to decline again this year — with less than 200 recorded so far more than halfway through 2025.
