PBI-Colombia present as IACHR conducts visit to the Portal de la Resistencia in Bogota to hear from demonstrators

On June 11, PBI-Colombia tweeted: “Last night the CIDH was in the Portal Resistencia hearing directly from youth initiatives and human rights organizations including the Justice and Peace Commission that accompany in the humanitarian space.”

Publimetro had reported: “The IACHR will visit the Portal de la Resistencia (Americas) to hear from demonstrators. …There they will listen to the different social and youth organizations, neighbors and district authorities.”

The article adds: “Therefore, the attendees will hear from the voice of the witnesses the violent events and events that have occurred in the portal.”

El Tiempo further noted: “With the arrival of the IACHR, several people, mainly young people, began to narrate what has happened there, and asked for accompaniment to the roundtables that have been established in the area.”

It adds: “The delegates toured the place on foot, escorted by citizens who usually participate in the protests and those who were participating in the dialogue table.”

Portal de las Americas

PBI-Colombia has noted that the Portal de las Resistencia, established at the Portal de las Americas TransMilenio transit station in Bogota, is “where youth and grassroots organizations in the area have created a humanitarian space for participation in the social protests.”

This humanitarian space has seen repeated violence by the police.

On May 13, Bogota city councillor Diego Cancino tweeted: “We denounce human rights violations in Bogotá and Portal Americas: 20 injured. Inside the Portal of the America there have been serious mistreatments of young people (organizations report 8 verified cases). Illegal detentions. Gunshot wounds.”

On May 18, the Justice and Peace Commission noted: “The intervention tonight by the public forces has been one of the most violent that has occurred since the beginning of the National Strike, the indiscriminate use of conventional and unconventional weapons, has been a constant pattern in the actions of the Police.”

The IACHR visit

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR-CIDH) is in Colombia on a three-day (June 8-10) working visit to assess the human rights situation.

France 24 has commented: “The presence of the IACHR in the country becomes essential for the demonstrators, who have been denouncing abuses for weeks during the exercise of their right to protest. [The IACHR-CIDH] visit gives a halo of hope to the protesters and, above all, to the families of the victims.”

Antonia Urrejola, the president of the IACHR-CIDH, has noted: “After the working visit, all the information received will be analyzed, and a public statement will be issued that will contain observations and recommendations that seek to collaborate in the strengthening of human rights institutions.”

PBI-Colombia has regularly accompanied the Justice and Peace Commission at the Portal de la Resistencia throughout the national strike.

Still image from Twitter with PBI-Colombia accompaniment as the CIDH hears from participants at the Portal de las Resistencia.