THIS IS AN URGENT ACTION ORGANIZED BY THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH AND SOCIAL ACTION (NOMADESC), A PARTNER OF CODEV SINCE 2001.
NOMADESC is a Colombian Human Rights organization. NOMADESC has been working with communities affected by the Internal Armed Conflict by promoting respect for human rights and ongoing peace processes in Colombia.
TWO FRONTLINE YOUNG PEOPLE KILLED AFTER THEY BEEN ARBITRARILY DETAINED IN BUGALAGRANDE
The undersigned organizations denounce before the National and International community the events in which, last Saturday, October 7, Young CARLOS JULIO CALERO SUESCUN lost his life. Since the frontline leaders and young people of the center of the Valley were deprived of their liberty, the persecution against them began. The detainees and their families have been victims of threats, follow-ups, raids, and interception of their communications, and two of them have been murdered. Situations could have been avoided if the Colombian Government and the State control agencies had responded to the requests made by the family members, judicial representatives, and organizations defending human and people's rights.
CARLOS JULIO AND JHONATAN were victims of a judicial process created to punish young people who dared to exercise the right to social protest in the National Strike 2021. Their right to due process was openly violated, and consequently, they were murdered.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STATEMENT WRITTEN BY NOMADESC ON OCTOBER 10, 2023.
THE FACTS:
CARLOS JULIO CALERO SUESCUN, belonging to the front line within the framework of the so-called "National Strike of 2021" and deprived of his freedom on December 10 of the same year, along with 17 other people who exercised the right to protest (Bugalagrande case) victims of judicial setups, and who regained his freedom on July 21, 2023, due to the expiration of terms, with judicial representation from the Pueblos Legal Team, was murdered last October 7, 2023, at night, in Andalucía Valle.
JHONATAN SABOGAL, a 30-year-old young man, leader of the resistance at the Y intersection in Bugalagrande during the National Strike of 2021 and who was illegally deprived of his liberty since December 10, 2022, was one of the 57 victims of the Prison fire of Tuluá Municipality of the Department of Valle del Cauca, Jhonatan was in patio Eight of medium security where the incident occurred on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. The young leader had not been convicted. His freedom depended on reviewing a ruling that was in process.
These tragic deaths mark the second victim murdered in relation to the judicial process of the Y intersection Bugalagrande case, without considering the multiple murders of young people on the front line that have been recorded in the Country.
WE DEMAND:
To the National and International community:
Demand that the Colombian State, in particular, President GUSTAVO PETRO URREGO and Vice President FRANCIA MARQUEZ MINA, take actions to protect the rights of people deprived of liberty and prevent cases such as those reported here.
To the Attorney General's Office and the Attorney General's Office to investigate quickly and without delay the murders of the young people CARLOS JULIO AND JHONATAN SABOGAL and make the results public.
The International organizations IACHR and OHCHR follow up on the threat and persecution of frontline young people in Colombian prisons and those who have been released and continue to be persecuted and threatened.