Original in Spanish by Contagio Radio
According to the Justice and Peace Commission, there have been numerous testimonies pointing to the existence of torture chambers, chop-houses and mass graves being operated by Colombia’s National Police and neo-paramilitary groups against people arbitrarily detained while participating in the country’s National Strike.
On May 23, a report was released in which three Colombian human rights organizations claimed the Colombian National Police is running chop houses in Ciudad Jardín, a wealthy neighborhood in Cali and at least two mass graves in Mulaló in the rural area of Yumbo and another in the outskirts of Buga.
«Today, May 23, a more delicate version of the operations of the armed civilian groups protected by the police was revealed. They would have installed a chop house in the exclusive neighborhood of Ciudad Jardín. "
According to the information reported, Colombia’s national police would be implicated in these crimes, which has allegedly been transferring victims of forced disappearance in police vans and trucks since May 2nd.
The report includes several testimonies, among them some survivors who give an account of these crimes. Additionally, these witnesses, some of them torture survivors, would be under threat and pressure from the perpetrators to remain silent.
"Some relatives have shared with our organization some names of the young people who are detained, then taken to a police facility in Meléndez and days later their whereabouts are unknown."
According to the organizations, throughout these 25 days of protests, the repression and cover-up plans by the police have become even more "sophisticated", which added to the fears by their victims that these heinous crimes could remain in absolute impunity.
«Based on The synthesis of these accounts that provide reasonable elements of sophisticated criminal plans in which the [Colombian] National Police would participate and given the way in which they have operated from April 28 until today, the regular forces and the military expressions of General Zapateiro, we leave the information we have received to become part of the Public Record. "
Additionally, the report contains a list of 120 people who are still missing and are actively being claimed by their relatives in the department of Valle del Cauca.
The U.S. government continues to provide weapons and training to Colombian security forces guilty of widespread human rights abuses and possibly crimes against humanity.
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