Figures from the The Center for Research and Popular Education (CINEP) reveal that false positives killings have decreased while insecurity in Colombia’s cities continues.
CINEP noted that between 2001 and 2009, there were 940 reported victims of extrajudicial executions, and the magnitude of the problem was far greater than the reporting of the Soacha cases has revealed.
The same study also shows that in the first half of this year the number dropped significantly, with only two known cases and four victims, reported Caracol Radio.
CINEP said that accusations regarding past cases were continuing, and that so far Colombian authorities have seen 48 new cases involving 82 victims, particularly in the departments of Antioquia, Valle del Cauca and Quindío.
According to the study, the overall decrease in false positives killings was attibuted to measures being taken and orders given to facilitate the control of this type of abuse.
Despite the decrease in false positives killings, CINEP reported an alarming increase of urban violence, as well as social cleansing campaigns being carried out in the gang warfare style of the 1980s and 1990s.
Young people, workers and the homeless have been the main victims of a social intolerance that exists in urban areas, which so far this year has numbered 185 victims in 14 departments across Colombia. Santander has been most affected by the phenomenon, which has mainly been attributed to paramilitary groups.
Cities have become the epicenter of the collective threat which has increased greatly this year. CINEP’s study ranks the campaigns of collective threats across the country to show that Bogota leads with 10/10, Cordoba, 9; Santander 7; and Boyaca and Caldas with 6/10 each. The head of CINEP, Father Mauricio Garcia, has warned that a strategy is needed to maintain urban security.
CINEP also issued a warning about the growing insecurity that is affecting Medellin more than anywhere else.