Murders in Medellin, Colombia’s second-largest city, fell by a fifth in 2011 but displacements went up 60%, reported newspaper El Colombiano.
An annual report by Medellin’s governmental human rights office said there were 1,528 murders between January 1 and November 30 this year, 357 less than the same period last year, representing a drop of 19%.
It was not good news throughout the city however, with murders in rural areas rising by 30% and in San Antonio de Prado by 49%.
Moreover there was a massive rise in forced displacements — 8,434 people reported having to abandon their neighborhoods between January and October, an increase of 60% on the same period last year.
According to victims’ statements, the main reasons people were forced to flee were threats, pressure to join gangs or armed groups, murder, physical assault and sexual violence.
The areas of the city with the most displaced people, Communes 1 and 13 and District 8, were also the areas with the most gang violence, said government spokesman Jairo Herran Vargas.
He expressed his concern about the beginning of a new cycle of violence involving new power disputes between criminal organization. New criminal group “Los Urabeños” was attempting to dominate gangs left without a leader following the capture of drug lord “Valenciano,” but was facing confrontation with rival factions, Vargas said.
Fernando Quijano, director of Medellin NGO Corporation for Peace and Social Development, said, “This report is consistent in [warning] that Medellin still has high levels of conflict and faces a grave threat from illegal groups, mafia structures and a new armed actor in the form of “Los Urabeños.”
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