For immediate release 22/7/14 Murphy meets victims of Colombian state violence Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy continued his visit to Colombia today meeting with victims of state violence to hear their stories at first hand. The Newry and Armagh MP said; The delegation to Colombia had a chance today to hear the harrowing stories of some of the victims of Colombian state violence when we visited the Mothers of Soacha group. The group is made up of mothers of young men who were killed by the Colombian military and then dressed in FARC uniforms. The testimonies of these brave women have been dismissed as propaganda by the Colombian government despite the fact that the group has identified almost 1,000 cases. In 2008 the army established a bogus employment scheme in the poor neighbourhood of Soacha, on the southern outskirts of Bogota, to tempt young men to leave the area. 23 young men vanished from Soacha as part of this scheme and their bodies were subsequently found hundreds of miles away, killed in guerrilla fighting according to the army. One mother told us how she and her other son refused to accept this account of their son’s death and began to publicly challenge the army, leading to death threats to the family. Her surviving son was kidnapped by two policemen and thrown off a bridge, surviving with serious injuries, only to be subsequently executed by gunmen. Despite the ongoing death threats the mothers banded together and took on the state, prompting a UN investigation into what has now become known as the scandal of the False Positives. As our delegation squashed into the tiny barrio home of Maria we were struck by their determination to achieve justice despite their obvious ongoing devastation at the murder of their sons. These women have begun to organise and educate themselves and are not daunted by taking on the might of the Colombian military and state. They want the world to know their story and we promised to tell it for them. ENDS/CRÍOCH -- 113 117 Preasoifig Shinn Féin Tionól na Sé Chontae Foirgnimh na Parlaiminte Cnoc an Anfa Béal Feirste BT4 3XX Oifig: 02890521473 sinnfein.ie
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 18:54:15 +0000
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