The Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo Assis, categorically rejected the fact that the top commander of the National Liberation Army (ELN), Eliécer Herlinto Chamorro Acosta, known by the alias ‘Antonio García’, assured that this guerrilla does not recruitment, does not link minors and that those who join their ranks do so of their own free will.
Carlos Camargo Assis assured that, through the “case registration button” activated within the framework of the defense strategy against the recruitment of minors, between 2021 and so far in 2023 the Ombudsman has known 199 cases of recruitment in the entire national territory, 24 of which are allegedly responsible for the ELN.
Of these, 6 occurred in 2020, 3 in 2021 and 15 in 2022, with Arauca being the department in which the most cases have occurred, with 9; Nariño follows him, with 5; then Norte de Santander, with 3; Antioch, 2; Valle del Cauca, 2; Bolivar, 1; Boyacá, 1, and Caldas, 1.
However, Carlos Camargo Assis points out that there is a very large underreporting given that most of the families that are affected tell the officials of the Ombudsman’s Office in the territories that they do not report for fear of being subjected to reprisals by of the armed actors.
The Ombudsman’s Office, through its Early Warning System (SAT) has repeatedly warned of the risk of recruitment, use and use of girls, boys and adolescents in all regions of the country, particularly in those areas where the ELN commits crimes and territorial control is disputed with other illegal armed actors.
From 2018 to date, the Ombudsman’s Office has issued a total of 131 early warnings warning about this situation in the country. So far in 2023, the Ombudsman’s Office has issued 8 of these alerts warning about the risk of recruitment by the ELN. In the departments of Cauca, 2 alerts; Arauca, 1; Collided, 1; Guainia, 1; Narino, 1; Norte de Santander, 1, and Putumayo, also 1 alert.
In the same sense, through the Committee for the Laying Down of Arms (CODA), in which the Ombudsman’s Office participates, 9 cases were studied during 2022, in which the ELN would have been the group responsible for their recruitment, And so far in 2023, 2 cases have been analyzed with this group as allegedly responsible for this victimizing behavior.
The recruitment of girls, boys and adolescents occurs through the direct obligation to belong to the illegal group, with deceitful offers, by offering gifts and even sentimental manipulation. Practices that account for the crime of illegal recruitment, a war crime and a serious violation of the human rights of children, especially in regions targeted by violence and in which armed groups exercise authority and control over the civilian population
Source: Ombudsman