A Bogota judge ordered Colombia’s government to remove images and videos of President Abelardo de la Espriella walking through the remains of slain suspected guerrillas from its social media accounts.
The judge also ordered the government to remove images and videos of the body bags containing the lifeless remains of four members of organized crime group ACSN who were killed in La Guajira.
According to the judge, the images could be harmful to minors.
The decision was celebrated by congressman Santiago Osorio (Green Alliance), who sued the government over the controversial social media posts.
The State and the National Government cannot engage in a contest with crime to see which of the two is the most cruel; in this regard, the Office of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abelardo de la Espriella, were ordered to promptly remove images that may have reached the cell phones of children across the country, showing a state displaying corpses as trophies.
Congressman Santiago Osorio
Th publications were previously rejected by the Ombudsman’s Office, whose director, Iris Marin, urged the government not to “compete with armed groups over who instills the most fear, who humiliates the adversary the most, or who turns death into a display of power.”
Colombia’s government clashes with ombudsman over De la Espriella walking among corpses
In the first video, De la Espriella and Defense Minister Jorge Eduardo Mora walked through rows of body bags, displaying the remains of 23 alleged members of FARC dissident organizations EMC who were killed in the southern Guaviare province.
Among those killed in Operation Azarias were two minor victims of forced recruitment by the guerrillas.
The videos sought to promote the government’s hardline security policy, which vows to kill “narcoterrorists” who refuse to surrender.
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