The UN Office for Human Rights is warning about the humanitarian situation in the municipality of Nóvita, in the department of Chocó, due to the presence of armed groups.
The UN warns that the communities are in a situation of anxiety and vulnerability and that there are violations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
“The lack of protection is reflected in the absence of the State, control of non-state armed groups in the urban area and in recent confrontations, among them, in the rural area. We observe violations of the rights to food, health, free movement and adequate housing”, says the UN.
In the same sense, they point out that there are displaced communities that have not been able to return to their territories, since they do not have security guarantees; They also alert that there are people confined due to this situation.
“We call on the actors in the conflict to respect IHL and human rights. We urge the State to attend to Early Warning 027 of 2021 and act with a gender and ethnic approach, protect the life and physical and cultural integrity of the peoples of Nóvita,” says the UN Office for Human Rights.
A joint mission of national and international human rights organizations visited the municipality of Nóvita to verify the situation of the population in the presence and control of illegal armed groups.
The Chocó Regional Office of the Ombudsman, the Chocó Solidarity Inter-Ethnic Forum, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR Colombia) and the Office in Colombia of the United Nations Human Rights Organization (UN) High Commissioner Human Rights) carried out the accompaniment with the support of the Municipal Ombudsman. The representatives of these entities verified that the rights of the inhabitants of Nóvita are being violated by the armed actors who exercise territorial and social control in the area.