The International Office for Human Rights Action on Colombia

Day: 21 September 2020

International civil society organizations reject the excessive use of firearms and police abuse

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International civil society organisations reject the excessive use of firearms and police abuse in the city of Bogotá that caused the death of 13 persons and 400 injured, 72 of them with firearms, and 3 women sexually harassed

The Cooperation Space for Peace, the International Office for Human Rights – Action Colombia, and the civil society international organisations that have signed this statement, would like to express serious concerns about the killing of Colombian citizen Javier Ordóñez during his arrest, on the early morning of September 9, 2020. Mr. Ordóñez allegedly died after receiving blows to the head inflicted by members of the national police force. We would also like to express serious concerns about police abuses and the excessive use of firearms during protests that took place in reaction to this serious incident. According to a report from Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), 13 people in Soacha and Bogotá were killed during these protests and, according to figures from the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá, more than 400 people were injured, 72 of them due to firearms. In particular, we would like to highlight three cases in which three women were victims of sexual abuse and harassment, verbal abuse, arbitrary detention and bribery, reported by Colombian NGO Temblores to have been committed in a police station or CAI in the city of Bogotá.

Our solidarity is universal.

We are deeply concerned about all victims of armed conflict, repression and violence around the world — from Sudan to Syria, including the persecution of the Rohingya and so many other crises that often receive less international attention than they deserve. Each of these situations calls for solidarity, remembrance, justice and action.

However, we have decided to specifically highlight the message ‘Stop Genocide in Palestine’ because what is happening in Palestine represents not only a human tragedy of enormous magnitude, but also a direct challenge to the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law and to the rules-based international system itself. The indifference and complicity of much of the international community in the face of the apartheid regime imposed by the Israeli government on the Palestinian people represent one of the greatest moral and political contradictions of our time.

The persistent violation of essential norms — such as the protection of the civilian population, the prohibition of collective punishment and respect for proportionality in the use of force — not only has devastating consequences for the Palestinian population, but also erodes the global mechanisms designed to limit the power of states and prevent abuses.

When these rules are repeatedly breached without any effective consequences, the framework that protects all populations in conflict situations, anywhere in the world, is weakened. Therefore, speaking out in this case does not mean ignoring other forms of suffering, but rather emphasising the urgency of defending an international order which, if it collapses, leaves everyone in a more vulnerable position.

Drawing attention to this situation is, therefore, an act consistent with the universal values we uphold: the protection of life, human dignity and respect for international law, without exception.

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