Latest news with #procuraduría
BBC News
02-07-2025
- BBC News
Colombia violence: Missing social leaders 'killed by rebels', prosecutor says
The bodies of eight Colombian religious and social leaders who had been reported missing in April have been found in a shallow grave in Guaviare province, in south-central Colombia. The prosecutor's office blamed members of a rebel group called Frente Armando Ríos for their said the eight - two women and six men - had been summoned by the rebels to be interrogated about the alleged formation of a rival armed group in the area. There has been no response from Frente Armando Ríos to the is the deadliest country in the world for rights defenders and social leaders, according to a report by international rights organisation Front Line Defenders. The bodies were found in a rural area known as Calamar, where members of the Frente Armando Ríos are group is an off-shoot of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).The Farc signed a peace deal with the Colombian government in 2016 and many of its members laid down their arms, but parts of the group refused to disarm and set up dissident rebel groups such as the Frente Armando Rí offshoots engage in the production and trafficking of cocaine as well as extortion and illegal also engage in armed confrontations with the security forces and with members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) - a rival guerrilla group. According to the statement released by the prosecutor's office, leaders of the Frente Armando Ríos feared that the ELN was setting up a local cell in the reportedly summoned two of the victims for an "interrogation" on 4 April, and the remaining six people three days later. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a human rights organisation specialising in freedom of religion, said all but one were active leaders and members from two Protestant denominations: the Evangelical Alliance of Colombia Denomination (DEAC) and the Foursquare Gospel Church (ICCG). The eighth was the uncle of two of the other them is a married couple - Isaíd Gómez and Maribel Silva - who often preached in their Protestant church. Also among those whose bodies have been found is Maryuri Hernández, who helped the evangelical pastor in the area. She is survived by her five-year-old to CSW, all eight had settled in the area after fleeing violence and violations of freedom of religion in Arauca, a province bordering Venezuela where several armed groups are active. Religious leaders and social leaders are often targeted by armed groups in Colombia which do not tolerate any other authority than their of the victims said the eight had received a message by the Frente Armando Ríos, which demanded that they present themselves for questioning. According to the investigation by the prosecutor's office, days later they were taken to an abandoned property, where they were suspect the order to kill them was given by the inner circle of Iván Mordisco, one of the most powerful commanders of the dissident rebel murder of the eight has been condemned by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who called it "heinous" and denounced it as "a grave attack on the right to life, religious freedom and spiritual and community work".
CTV News
26-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Mexico's top court orders release of Ayotzinapa missing students case file
Relatives of the 43 missing Ayotzinapa students march to demand justice for their loved ones in Mexico City, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez) MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the attorney general's office to release a public version of its investigation file into the 2014 disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College, one of the country's worst human rights atrocities. The case has been marred by missteps and interference, with Mexico's former top prosecutor arrested in 2022 in relation to the case. The court ruling, prompted by a request from a private citizen, requires the file to be made available on the prosecutor's website with confidential data redacted. For more than a decade, the government has promised action in finding those responsible, with investigations publishing varying accounts of what happened to the students from the southern state of Guerrero. In 2022, investigators acknowledged that local, state and federal officials had played a role in covering up their disappearance. International probes have ruled they were likely kidnapped and killed by organized crime members in cahoots with police. The attorney general's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling. The Supreme Court did not specify a deadline for compliance. Victims' families have long pressed for justice, though no one has been convicted in connection to the case. (Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by Chris Reese)
Washington Post
20-05-2025
- Washington Post
Colombia lost huge area to deforestation in 6 months, public watchdog report warns
BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombia lost nearly 88,900 hectares (340 square miles) of forest — an area larger than New York City — in just six months, driven by the rapid spread of illegal roads, coca cultivation, and unregulated mining, according to a report by Colombia's procurator's office. The independent watchdog warned of accelerating environmental destruction in some of the country's most ecologically critical regions.
