Protests against police repression in Colombia erupted with violence in Popayán, in the southwest of the country, where a 17-year-old girl committed suicide after being forcibly picked up and assaulted by police officers. An AFP journalist on Friday, May 14 noted unrest and violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces in this city, without there being yet an official death toll or damage.
The violence took place on Wednesday evening when a minor was forcibly taken to the prosecutor’s office by police who dispersed a demonstration against the government. In a video that has gone viral, the girl can be seen screaming as they immobilize her hands and feet and take her away. According to the Commission for Safeguards and Human Rights, which accompanies the protests against the government, the minor has reported being beaten and being touched. The girl committed suicide Thursday at her home.
The police, who denied the abuses, announced the suspension of four police officers involved in the affair. The building of the prosecutor’s office where the girl was being held was set on fire on Friday.
Open investigation
A group of demonstrators also gathered in front of the Popayán police headquarters to protest the attack. The attorney general’s office, which oversees civil servants in Colombia, has launched an investigation to determine the responsibility of the police officers involved in the case.
The interior and defense ministers arrived in Popayán on Saturday at the request of President Iván Duque, who charged them with “Restoration of public order in the city”.
A total of 42 people were killed, including 41 civilians and a member of the security forces, during the clashes that have punctuated the demonstrations that Colombia has been experiencing since April 28, according to the Defender of the People, a public protection body. human rights. There were more than 1,500 injured among civilians and police, according to the defense ministry.
Colombia is in the grip of a strong social mobilization against the government, marked by deadly violence in this country whose economy has deteriorated with the Covid-19 pandemic. The demonstrators also denounce the repression exerted by the security forces, calling for in-depth reforms of the police.
