According to the Ombudsman’s Office, these actions impose widespread restrictions on mobility and the daily life of the communities.
The Ombudsman’s Office launched a new alert after the “armed strike” announced by the ELN for this Sunday December 14which would be spreading 72 hourswith a direct impact and serious about the civilian population of the territories under the influence of that armed group.
According to the control bodythese types of actions impose, through threats and coercion, widespread restrictions to the mobility already everyday life of communities, increasing the risk of shortagelack of access to essential services and humanitarian effects in areas historically hit by violence.
The Ombudsman’s Office pointed out that the so-called “armed strikes” constitute a form illegitimate of territorial control and populationwhose effects fall disproportionately on civilians.
“Among the main consequences are found the paralysis of local economiesthe interruption of health and education servicesthe increased risk of confinements and forced displacementas well as threats, selective homicides and gender-based violence“, said.
Read more: Failed attack at the Cauca Police Station
From the point of view legalthe entity recalled that these behaviors directly violate the International Humanitarian Law (IHL)in particular the rules of general protection of the civilian population and the prohibition of acts or threats of violence whose objective is terrify herenshrined in the Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and in the Additional Protocol II of 1977.
Likewise, he warned that the imposition collective restrictions under threat can constitute collective punishmentsprohibited by IHL, and ignores the obligation to respect the essential goods for the survival of the civilian populationsuch as access to food, water, medical attention and others basic services.
“The civilian population it just can’t be instrumentalized nor subjected to fear as a method of pressure either domination“, stressed the Ombudsman’s Office, reiterating that no armed actor can assume functions of authority nor impose coexistence rules to entire communities.
Before the announcement of ELNthe Ombudsman’s Office activated his monitoring mechanisms, monitoring and territorial verification through their regionalin order to identify risksaccompany the communities and promptly warn the authorities about the need to adopt prevention and protection measuresincluding actions to guarantee the safe mobilityhe access to essential services and the humanitarian care when required.
You may be interested in: Race in Bogotá in tribute to pets this Christmas: When and where?
The Ombudsman’s Office made a urgent call to the ELN to refrain from carrying out any action that jeopardizes the lifethe integritythe dignity and the rights of the civil population. Likewise, he urged the national and territorial authorities to implement immediate, coordinated and proportional measures that guarantee the human rightswith special emphasis on the protection of girls, boys and adolescents, social leaderships, ethnic communities and population in vulnerable condition.
“The Ombudsman makes a urgent call to the ELN to refrain from carrying out any action that jeopardizes the lifethe integritythe dignity and the rights of the civil population“, said.
Finally, the Ombudsman reiterated that the “armed strike” announced, far from meeting the objectives that the armed group claims to pursue, deepens the humanitarian crisis and falls directly on the communitiesaggravating his risk and vulnerability situation in different regions of the country.
Source: Integrated Information System
