In the last few months, illegal armed groups have been carrying out serious violations of International Humanitarian Law in several areas of the municipality of Segovia, Antioquia, Colombia.
On 19 September at approximately 6:30pm, several heavily armed men from the Clan del Golfo, also known as the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC), raided the Bocas de Chicamoqué village, under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Segovia. They proceeded to mark houses and motorcycles with the initials “AGC,” looted grocery stores and beat members of the community. This caused several families to flee the area, some of whom reached the Mina Nueva village in Panama Nueve, located about an hour from the scene of the events. Then in the early morning hours of 21 September, in the village of El Pescado village within the municipality of Segovia, a confrontation occurred between paramilitaries from the Clan del Golfo and an insurgent group.
These acts of violence have caused the displacement of more than 200 families, increasing the humanitarian crisis that has been going on for several months in Northeast Antioquia.
As CPT Colombia, we express our deep concern regarding the incursion of the armed paramilitary group Clan del Golfo into villages of the municipality of Segovia, Antioquia. We want to highlight the alarming and continuous violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and the risks to the civilian population that have aggravated the humanitarian crisis in the region. CAHUCOPANA, a CPT partner organization, has repeatedly denounced the current situation over the course of this year, declaring that this most recent armed incursion “leaves a large number of displaced people and fear in the population who, due to lack of guarantees, refuse to return to their homes.”
The perpetuation of war leaves only destruction in its wake, and local communities caught in the crossfire suffer the most. We urge the appropriate authorities and institutions of the Colombian state to guarantee life and permanence in the territory as demanded by CAHUCOPANA.
CPT calls on the Government of Antioquia, today more than ever, to follow through with the planned Humanitarian Action. Likewise, we urge the national, departmental, and local civil authorities to carry out immediate humanitarian actions to guarantee the life and integrity, fundamental rights and freedom of the population.
Additionally, we join CAHUCOPANA’s call urging the national government to guarantee the protection of CAHUCOPANA’s community work in the defence and promotion of human rights and to expedite compliance with the collective and differentiated protection measures for CAHUCOPANA as soon as possible.
