The Indigenous Organization of Antioquia (OIA) has denounced murders and harm to indigenous community members that have occurred over the past two weeks, Caracol Radio reported Wednesday.
The most recent occurrence reported by the NGO was the serious injury of two indigenous children in the Embera de Kiparado community, Choco department, who were wounded by gunshots in an exchange between the Colombian Army and the FARC.
The children, of nine and 12 years, were initially brought to the Apartado hospital, but due to the gravity of their injuries, were transferred to the San Vicente de Paul hospital in Medellin. The OIA said that they are working to establish responsibility for the occurrence so that they may initiate a judicial process against the culprits.
The OIA also reported the murder of four indigenous members from the Zenu community in two northern Antioquia municipalities over the last two weeks, as well as the forced displacement of 13 families, all attributed to criminal bands.
In a separate incident, criminal band “Los Rastrojos” was responsible for the murder of the president of a community action committee in the El Campanario community of the Caceres municipality according to the organization, while in Zaragoza, three members of the Zenu community were murdered, by unspecified criminal bands.
Indigenous communities in Colombia are frequently at risk of being caught in the cross-fire of the exchanges between armed forces and guerrilla groups and of receiving violent threats from criminal gangs and neo-paramilitaries.
