The Ombudsman’s Office rejected the kidnapping of the National Army sergeant, Ghislaine Karina Ramírez, and her two children, minors, when they were traveling in a private vehicle on the road that leads from Tame to Fortul (Arauca).
“We condemn the kidnapping of the petty officer and her two children, aged six and eight, a reprehensible act that violates the provisions of International Humanitarian Law. Girls, boys and adolescents cannot be the object of kidnapping, nor of any other practice that could violate their rights”, said the Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo Assis.
And he added: “We demand that the group responsible for such a heinous act respect the lives and integrity of these three people and release them as soon as possible. From the Ombudsman’s Office we have activated our humanitarian channels to serve as mediators in their release.”
In relation to the cases of forced disappearances in the department, 11 reported in recent weeks in Fortul, Arauquita, Tame and the capital Arauca, he regretted that there are also minors among the victims.
“This is one of the most atrocious and cruel practices in the development of the armed conflict. According to what the next of kin stated, people are intercepted or detained while traveling on inter-municipal highways or when they are at home, after having been identified by their captors, who take them away through armed intimidation, in an unknown direction.” indicated the Colombian Ombudsman.
In other cases, the victims were summoned, on a “compulsory” basis by armed actors, to specific places on the border with Venezuela, without having returned to their homes.
“These are events that must be stopped. As in the case of the sergeant and her two children, we also make our humanitarian channels available so that these people return to their homes, and we ask the illegal armed actors who commit crimes in the area and those behind the disappearances to stop this cruel practice immediately”, said the Ombudsman.
Carlos Camargo Assis also asked the authorities for greater control in the face of this type of situation along the binational border, which has affected citizens of both countries.
“Some of the victims are being subjected to torture and punishment, in order to verify or rule out whether they collaborate with armed groups. This is a form of violence that subjugates the civilian population, produces terror and causes suffering to their families and to society in general,” said Camargo Assis.
Finally, he said that there is an underreporting of cases, since to the complaints for violations of human rights and violations of International Humanitarian Law are added situations that, although the families are aware of them, for fear of reprisals they do not notify the authorities.
The Ombudsman’s Office keeps the seven municipalities of the department of Arauca under Early Warning (AT) (AT 024-21 and AT 011-23), and urges the authorities to adopt prevention and protection measures for the civilian population.
Source: Ombudsman