WILPF Statement Against the Violence in Colombia
The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), in support of our sisters in the Colombian section (Liga Internacional de Mujeres por la Paz y la Libertad (LIMPAL) Colombia), condemns the repressive and violent actions of the security forces in response to the National Strike that began on 28 April and continues to this day. On the ninth day of demonstrations against the tax reform proposal, following the repression by the State against the protesters and the militarisation of the streets, the NGO Temblores reported 1,728 cases of police violence, 234 victims of physical violence by the police, 37 victims of homicide allegedly perpetrated by the police, 934 arbitrary arrests against the protesters, 341 violent interventions by the security forces, 26 victims of eye injury, 98 cases of firearms being shot by the police and 11 victims of sexual violence by the security forces.
We categorically reject the use of weapons to repress peaceful demonstrations, the use of excessive and disproportionate force by the security forces, the silencing of grievances by civilians, sexual violence against women, the militarisation of the streets, the censorship of alternative media, the misrepresentation of information in the traditional media, the complete lack of accountability of the institutions and the homicidal violence by the State.
