Colombia’s Vice President Angelino Garzon asked authorities to punish members of Colombia’s armed forces to the “fullest extent of the law” for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old indigenous girl, according to a press release on the presidential website.
The vice president said that said that the government will not allow public servants, especially members of the armed forces and police, to be involved in human rights violations, and if they are, they will be relieved of their posts and severely punished.
The attack on the girl by five “men in uniform” occurred in the town of Puerto Jordan in the department of Arauca on January 6, newspaper El Tiempo reported Sunday.
Following a criminal complaint by the girl’s mother, the army opened an investigation, and carried out DNA tests on 30 members of the armed forces to be checked against the evidence.
| {japopup type=”image” content=”pics/2011/02/children.jpg” title=”Violence against children in Arauca”} |
Four months ago, soldiers in Arauca were indicted for the murder of three young siblings. Six soldiers were removed from their posts and Lieutenant Raul Muñoz was brought to trial for murder and rape. Muñoz admitted to raping the assassinated girl, but denied the murder.
These attacks are part of a disturbing trend of violence against children in Arauca. In 2009 seven children between the ages of 12 and 15 were forcibly recruited by the guerrilla group FARC. In 2010 16 minors were violently murdered. In the same year, seven children were kidnapped, two of which were murdered. The case of the three sibling murdered occurred in October and in January 2010 a guerrilla rebel murdered a girl of 16 years who was pregnant.
Vice President Garzon said the country’s children deserve special protection and any violation of their rights should be punished to the full extent of the law to set an example.