Troops of the Calibio Battalion threaten, torture and detain minors in Yondo, Antioquia

20.03.06

In a flagrant violation of the International Convention on Children’s Rights and the Convention Against Torture, troops of the Calibio Battalion, with base in Puerto Berrio, illegally detained, tortured and threatened various children from the Cimitarra River region.

The facts, denounced by the Campesino Association of the Cimitarra River Vallery, took place the 10th, 11th, and 12th of March in the hamlets of Puerto Matilde, San Francisco and Santo Domingo, municipality of Yondo, Antioquia.

During various operations in the mentioned settlements, the soldiers, accompanied by a FARC “reinsert”, known as “El Mocho,” after carrying out massive detentions, threatened the inhabitants if they didn’t give information about the whereabouts of the guerrilla.

The campesinos denounced the following cases:

On March 10th, Johan Alexis Hoyos, a minor of only 16 years, was illegally held for 24 hours near the settlements of Santo Domingo and Puerto Matilde. Upon being released, he was forced to sign a “good treatment” document.

On March 11th, the two brothers Juan Gabriel and Juan Pablo Barahona, 16 and 17 years old, respectively, sons of the president of the Communal Action Junta of Puerto Matilde, were captured without a judicial warrant while they worked in their job of loggers.
The minors, accused of helping the guerrilla, were tied by their hands and feets, they were threatened with death with their own chainsaw, turning it on to intimidate them with the sound, and guns without the safety were pointed in their faces, forcing them to give information. They were also threatened with knives. In order to be released, they were forced to sign a “good treatment” document.

On March 12th, another minor (15 years old), in a place called Hueco Frio, part of the settlement of San Francisco, was detained for two hours. Thanks to the pressure of the residents and the owner of the farm, the child was released.

This situation takes place as 4 of the 10 families that remain in San Francisco (23 families displaced to Yondo) and refuse to leave their small farms, now if they try to move, they are threatened by the army.

A similar situation is occurring in Puerto Matilde, as its residents have started to leave faced with the false accusations of “reinserts”.

Humanidad Vigente warns once again that the mistreatment of minors in war, and the accusation and torture of them, consists a flagrant violation of the International Convention of Childrens’ Rights and the Declaration of Women and Children in States of Emergency or Armed Conflict, in reference to cruel and degrading treatment or punishment, and demands that the perpetrators of these practices cease their activities and likewise demands that the Colombian government and organizaciones of human rights control elevate the vigilance for the carrying out of standards in defense of children.

Humanidad Vigente

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