Venezuelan organizations this Monday demanded that the Colombian government investigate the attack against activists Yendri Velásquez and Luis Alejandro Pechewho were injured by gunshot in Bogotá.
The attack, which occurred in the Cedritos neighborhood, in the north of the Colombian capital, unleashed a wave of condemnation on social networks. The NGO Acceso a la Justicia rejected the attack and demanded that President Gustavo Petro promote “relevant investigations to identify” “those responsible for this event.”
The organization Provide He demanded “a response from the Petro government” and asked for urgent protection for “Venezuelan defenders at risk,” many of whom, he warned, remain “trapped in immigration limbo due to institutional obstacles” by Migración Colombia.
“The Colombian State has the obligation to guarantee effective protection to defenders, refugee seekers and people in conditions of special vulnerability,” Provea recalled.
He added that the Prosecutor’s Office must “carry out an investigation that will clarify what happened and provide urgent protection measures to the victims.”
The National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) highlighted that both Venezuelan citizens are in Colombia after having been harassed in Venezuela and demanded that the Colombian authorities carry out a “transparent, exhaustive and expeditious” investigation that would clarify the facts and punish those responsible.
He warned that these types of attacks deepen the Venezuelan crisis and expose the vulnerable situation in which activists find themselves inside and outside the country.
Other organizations added their claims
Human Kaleidoscope stated that both “were victims of violence that the Colombian State is incapable of controlling” and asked President Petro to guarantee “security for refugee seekers.”
Cepaz (Justice and Peace Center) stressed that Velásquez “left Venezuela looking for safety and today violence reaches him again.”
He Popular Will party He demanded from the Colombian government “an exhaustive and transparent investigation into this crime” and warned that “you cannot talk about peace in the world without first guaranteeing it in your own country.”
The Colombian National Police reported in its preliminary report that it was a “hitman” attack. Both activists entered a clinic and remain out of danger; Velásquez, however, required surgery due to the severity of the injuries.
The Ombudsman of Colombia He recalled that Velásquez had requested institutional support for his international protection process, after denouncing persecution for his work in defense of human rights, and asked the Prosecutor’s Office to move forward with a “prompt and exhaustive investigation that will clarify the facts and adopt protection measures for the victims.”
With information from Efe.
