translated from Spanish: Colombia: report the deaths of 27 people as part of protests

At least 27 people have died in Colombia “in the context of the protests” that began on April 28, while there are still 359 cases reported as disappearances that are in “verification and location process”, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Ombudsman’s Office reported this Friday.In a joint report, the agencies specified that of the total reported homicides, “11 are directly linked to the facts” , seven are “in verification” and there are nine “unrelated facts”. Official figures, however, are far from what is raised by social organizations such as Tremors, which reports that since the beginning of the demonstrations there are “37 victims of allegedly murderous violence by the police.” As the Government seeks to find consensus with different political, economic and social sectors, the protests, which began against the now-withdrawn tax reform, are now continuing against an attempt to reform health, against police brutality and the complex situation of insecurity. MISSINGThe Ombudsman’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office, meanwhile, noted that they have received 548 reports of “alleged missing” and that 189 people have already been located, so there are still 359 “in the process of verification and location.” It is noted that we continue permanently with verification, this taking into account the high volume and the short time that has been taken. Within 24 hours it will be updated again,” both agencies said in their newsletter. VIOLENT NIGHT IN CALICali, Colombia’s third-largest city, remains the epicenter of social protests and police brutality on the tenth day of protests across the country, with blockades on the tracks drowning out some establishments and the arrival of goods. The violence of recent days on the streets of several neighborhoods in the city has claimed the lives of more than twenty people, according to social organizations, in a city to which national authorities sent some 1,200 service members to supposedly restore order. Just tonight the capital of the Valle del Cauca department (southwest) is living a new day of violence that, so far, leaves two people injured in a shootout against a medical mission, international agencies say.” We remain concerned about reports of shootings tonight at different locations in Cali, where there would be at least two injuries. We urged respect for the medical mission,” Juliette de Rivero, representative in Colombia of the UN’s high commissioner for Human Rights, warned on Twitter. This city has been the focus of attention for police excesses and images of violence of such magnitude that even Nicolás Guerrero, son of a cousin of Mayor Jorge Ivan Ospina, is one of the fatalities who have left the demonstrations.

Original source in Spanish