Persecution Continues against the Aragon Valenzuela family

Paramilitaries have assaulted a driver who was taking a leader of the Humanitarian Space, Doris Valenzuela and her husband, Ezequiel Aragon, to the shopping area of Pueblo.

The attack happened on Monday at around 3.30pm in the area known as La Loma, just moments after the afro-Colombian couple had got out of the vehicle. The paramilitaries, known as “Mongo” and “Mono”, approached the driver, demanding to know where Doris and Ezequiel had gone.

When the taxi driver wouldn’t tell them, the men who were dressed in civilian clothing and carrying hand guns, punched him in the face, and told him to leave the area.

The family, who had felt compelled to leave the Humanitarian Space for more than a year because of threats from these “Mongo” and “Mono” paramilitaries, had only come back two weeks ago, when they had found it impossible to get a satisfactory response from the State for protection and humanitarian support.

In spite of the fact that the family unit is protected by the Precautionary Measures of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, the government has not taken the necessary measures to protect the lives and integrity of the family, who opposed the forced recruitment of their son,

Christian, who received death threats from the paramilitaries.

Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz