The unknown assassins of a former council member and four of his family members also displaced 183 persons the following day, in the southwestern department of Nariño, the Ombudsman says.
In a press release on the Ombudsman’s website, Volmar Perez condemned Friday’s multiple homicide and said that Saturday’s displacement took place in a village near El Charco, close to the site of the multiple homicide.
The forced displacement took place “after threats, homicides and extortion by an illegal group” consisting of twenty men.
The Ombudsman urges authorities to take action to prevent further violence in the remote area that is mainly occupied by indigenous and afrocolombian communities.
Illegal groups such as the FARC, Los Rastrojos (a group made up of demobilized members of the ELN and paramilitary AUC) and local armed groups are active in the area, the ombudsman said, adding that security forces have withdrawn from the region.
