Leon Valencia, director of the Rainbow Foundation, an independent advocacy and research group focusing on armed paramilitary and guerrilla conflict in Colombia, said that his office received treats of violent reprisal following their release last week of a report titled "The decline of democratic security."
Valencia said that principal researchers who drafted the report have since left Colombia after receiving threats, and he also said that information related to the study has been stolen, La Semana newspaper reported Monday.
In the report, Foundation researchers said Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's 'Democratic Security' policy is in crisis largely due to the new generations bolstering the ranks of paramilitary groups.
Paramilitary activity this year was noted in 293 municipalities throughout the country, up from 247 localities counted last year. The current explosion of violence in Medellin this year contributed to the instability, the report continued, likening the crime wave to that 2002, and violent deaths in this major Colombian city are expected to reach 2,000 homicides by the end of the year.
