Colombia’s Federation of Councilors says the FARC declared municipal officials military targets to destabilize local governments.
The federation announced that four of its members were murdered by the leftist guerrillas and two were kidnapped.
“These acts show how the borders of what is reasonable are being trespassed and that illegal armed groups are after the local council member as a military objective,” federation president Fabio Estrada told Noticias Caracol.
“Aside attempting to murder the council members, they are seeking to kidnap them to generate a different type of pressure,” Estrada added.
According to the federation president, many of the country’s council members live in high-risk areas where the Armed Forces are not able to protect them sufficiently. Because of this, the federation will seek international support.
“We recognize the efforts of the national government, but I think that we need to look to the United Nations’ International Criminal Court,” Estrada told the television station.
