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Human rights organizations expressed their fear of working in Colombia due to possibly being stigmatized following cases of “false victims,” reported Caracol Radio Wednesday.
Organizations met with President Juan Manuel Santos at the presidential palace where they said that cases of false victims like those of Mapiripan and Las Pavas are causing them to fear that their work with victims will be discredited.
Following the massacre of Mapiripan and the displacement of Las Pavas it is claimed that victims came forward giving false testimony.
Monsignor Hector Fabio Henao, who was present at the meeting said “they feel that there must be an atmosphere of public recognition for their work on account of the fact that stigmatization of their work could cause many problems for entities such as the government and [human rights] organizations.”
Monsignor Henao added “There is a lot of fear that the work of human rights organizations is being delegitimized.”
Monsignor Henao also said that President Juan Manuel Santos requested that the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights remain in Colombia, that he, the president, is certain that the problem of human rights in the country will resolve themselves, and once resolved there will be no need for the international organizations to be in the country.
It is also said that President Santos hoped that situations like that of the Mapiripan case will be cleared by through the justice system.