Police brutality sparks protests in Colombia

In the last year, thousands have taken to the streets in Colombia to protest against President Iván Duque’s government and continued police brutality.

Illustration by Lily Squires

In November 2019, Dilan Cruz, an 18-year-old Colombian student took part in a peaceful march to demand improved access to education. Cruz was hit on the head by a projectile fired by riot police and died two days later.

Javier Steven Tovar, a friend of Cruz and student at the Universidad de La Salle, told El Espectador, that “the Esmad [riot police] threw stun grenades and tear canisters at [them]. Dilan went to the front to kick back a tear-gas canister, because it had landed next to some elderly people, that’s when he was shot at.”

Although paramedics were able to resuscitate Cruz at the scene, he was then taken to hospital where Dr Juan Martínez diagnosed a “traumatic brain injury caused by a penetrating object.”

Colombian artists took to social media to express their condolences and condemn the aggressive response of the police. A popular Colombian reggaeton singer José Álvaro Osorio Balvín, better known as J Balvin, gave his “condolences to [Cruz’] family, friends and to all the young people that fight for their dreams and rights.”

Meanwhile, Colombian pop star Juanes wrote about  the killing of Cruz: “it fills me with rage and frustration to see the systematic violence used to deviate and delegitimize peaceful demonstrations, and seeing how some groups want to see the country in chaos.”

Cruz was the fourth individual to be killed during protests in November 2019, when “more than 200,000 people took to the streets to show discontent over possible austerity measures…concerned about possible changes to minimum wage, pension and tax reforms”. Colombia’s President Iván Duque expressed his condolences to Cruz’ family in a tweet. According to a recent poll, only 26 per cent of Colombians approve of their head of state, whilst 70 per cent believe that “things in Colombia” are getting worse.

As a result of these protests, the government gave local authorities “permission to impose exceptional measures such as curfews, restrictions on freedom of movement and bans on the sale of alcoholic beverages”. One such measure was a curfew imposed on the city of Cali by Maurice Armitage, the city’s Mayor, who further commented that “those who are outside at this [curfew] hour can be detained by the authorities.”

On the evening of September 7, 2020, Javier Ordóñez, a 46-year-old man, was repeatedly tasered by policemen in the Colombian capital of Bogotá for allegedly breaking social distancing rules by consuming alcohol on the street. He was taken to a police station and then moved to a nearby hospital where he later died. Vadith Gómez, the victim’s lawyer, asserts that “the victim did not die in hospital. He was beaten brutally and tortured.”

One of the police officers responsible for Ordóñez’s death, Juan Camilo Lloreda Cubillos, however claims that, “he and his partner, Rodríguez Díaz took Ordóñez to the Partenón Clinic immediately after he stated that he didn’t feel well after having been tasered.”

In the wake of Ordóñez’s death, demonstrations and protests against police brutality have left at least 10 people dead, according to figures supplied by the government. At a memorial in the Plaza Simón Bolívar, Bogotá’s main square, the city’s Mayor Claudia López read out the names of those who have died in the protests at a mass attended by the victims’ families. López also took to Twitter to tell her followers that “The path of recognition, forgiveness, truth, justice, reform, guarantee of non-repetition, and reconciliation will not be easy, but it is the only one desirable and the only one in which we will persevere.”

Inti Asprilla, an opposition senator, told Al Jazeera that “We have always had a structural problem, but it has worsened over time. First due to a lack of training in the proportional use of force and respect for human rights. Second, due to an internal disciplinary system that does not work, and third, the fact that they are tried by a military jurisdiction with an impunity rate of more than 90.”

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) wrote in 1992 that “the attorney general’s office is investigating 68 massacres in which government forces are implicated…The small percentage of cases in which a final disciplinary decision is reached, between 2.46 and 7.72 per cent for various serious crimes, suggests impunity for such crimes is rampant in Colombia.” Worryingly, even fewer cases are criminally prosecuted.

Colombia was placed under strict lockdown measures by President Duque on March 25, when there were just 491 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and six deaths attributed to the virus. The president spoke on national television to inform the country that they were “a few hours away from starting the national quarantine, a very important moment for our country, where our behaviour, our attitude, our discipline, our solidarity, our commitment can save lives”.

The protests following the death of individuals like Cruz and Ordóñez follow months of these stringent measures, which have “pushed millions to the brink” according to the New York Times. Unemployment levels rose to 21.4 per cent in May, 10.9 per cent higher than the same month last year, despite efforts to restart the economy.

The Centre Strategic and International Studies wrote earlier this year that Colombia “finds itself at a crossroads. A more promising future hinges on the Colombian government pursuing an integrated and conflict-aware approach to stabilization in Colombia’s territories.”

Whilst the names of Cruz and Ordóñez have been heard by the Colombian population, others - such as Anderson Arboleda, a 24-year-old Afro-Colombian, and Janner García, a 22-year-old promising footballer - are relatively unknown. The coverage of Ordóñez’s death focused on his university degree in Aeronautical Engineering and that he was about to graduate from law school. Other victims, such as those mentioned above, received no such eulogy from the press and “did not provoke the same outrage that Javier’s death did.”

The extent to which Ordóñez’s murder shocked and outraged the Colombian population is linked to the publication, and subsequent sharing, of the footage showing the 46-year-old suffering at the hands police officers. Just as viewers were appalled by the footage of Jacob Blake’s murder, Colombians were unable to ignore the brutality of their police force. No such footage exists of the murders of either Arboleda or García, and therefore neither sparked a widespread response in Colombia. 

The nationwide protests following Ordóñez’s death have brought the issue of police brutality in Colombia to the international community’s attention. José Miguel Vivanco, director of HRW Americas division, said “President Duque should send a clear message that these violations will not be tolerated and the authorities should ensure that those responsible for violations are held to account.” Whether Duque will take charge of the chaos encompassing Colombia is yet to be seen.