CPTnet
26 September 2006

COLOMBIA: Soldiers kill two unarmed combatants, injure child, witnesses say

[Note: because several people reported not receiving posts on September
26-27, we are reposting them now.]

On 26 August 2006, Colombian Army soldiers killed two unarmed guerrilla
soldiers and injured a child, residents of Honda Alta, a rural Colombian
village, told members of Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) Colombia. CPTers
Noah Dillard and Suzanna Collerd accompanied human rights workers on 8
September as they traveled to Honda Alta, Micoahumado, in southern Bolivar
at the request of the community.

Witnesses related that two known members of the leftist guerrilla
organization, the National Liberation Army (ELN), entered Honda Alta,
unarmed and in civilian clothing. One of the two was celebrating his
birthday and had gone to buy soda and beer; the other was watching
television on a porch with about a dozen children.

The military entered the community and pursued the man who was buying
drinks. As he ran, he shouted a warning to his friend who was watching
television with the children. Then a soldier shot him in the arm and he
fell. Soldiers summarily executed him with a bullet through the head while
he lay on the ground, the witnesses said.

They went on to say that the second man ran from the house as soldiers
opened fire behind him. In an apparent panic response, a child ran outside
and was struck by bullets. The second man stopped, took off his shirt, and
held his hands up in surrender. Soldiers continued shooting him until he
was dead, the witnesses said, adding that both men were unarmed and did not
resist.

The injured child showed CPT entry and exit wounds from a bullet through his
knee and marks where two other bullets grazed his thigh and stomach.
Witnesses reported hearing a soldier say during the incident that the child
should be killed for not laying on the ground when they had ordered him to
do so.

The First Geneva Convention, ratified by Colombia in 1961, requires humane
treatment of unarmed enemies, care for the wounded, and protection of
civilians.

CPT sent a written request to Colombian government authorities for a
thorough investigation. Investigative authorities promised to follow up.
The team has also scheduled a meeting with the commander of the soldiers'
army battalion.