In the worst atrocity in almost two decades in Colombia, at least 117 civilians, including 48 children, were killed and more than 100 injured when the church they were sheltering in was struck by a home-made mortar fired by the FARC guerrillas. The massacre happened during fierce fighting between the FARC guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries in a remote town in the north-west of the country.
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UN Dispatches Delegation To Investigate Colomobia Massacre |
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BOYAJA, May 9, 2002 -- The UN has accepted the request of Colombian President Andres Pastrana to dispatch a delegation to the Boyaj� (Bellavista), locality of the Choc� department, site of a civilian massacre last week. The UN delegation, which will depart today, will be led by Andres Kompass, High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia. Kimpass and his collaborators will have the task of gathering information to try and solve the massacre, which occurred during fighting between the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the paramilitaries of the AUC (Colombian Self-Defense Forces), which has caused numerous other cases of bloodshed in the region. The government has accused the FARC, but various testimonies of the residents, as well as the guerrillas, point their fingers at the paramilitaries of AUC. The UN mission will also visit Vig�a del Fuerte (department of Antioquia), divided from Bojay� by the river Atrato, where troops of the regular armed forces arrived last Tuesday. At the moment, Vig�a is guarded by the Colombian military forces and there is great fear that the FARC, who withdrew from the area before the arrival of the Colombian forces, may return to fight the soldiers. At least 4,000 civilians are at risk, as well as 30 missionaries of various nationalities, forced to find shelter due to the high insecurity. The UN delegation plans to return to Bogot� next Sunday. It shall then deliver a detailed report to the government of President Pastrana, which shall then be publicly released. � Missionary Service News Agency, 2002. All rights reserved. Distributed in partnership with Globalvision News Network (www.gvnews.net). |
