Seven bodies, all male, were found piled on a road of the municipality of Argelia, in the southwest region of Cauca, Colombia. The bodies are being identified by authorities as they were presumably not from the municipality. In the past few weeks, paramilitary groups have been circulating pamphlets threatening to kill certain groups of people.
Amnesty International has received reports from the Displaced Afrodescendant Association (AFRODES) that pamphlets from paramilitary groups, identified as the Popular Cleansing Squad (Comando Popular de Limpíeza) and the Self Defense Gaitanista Forces (AGC - Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia), have been circulated in the past weeks, in which the two groups warn they will “eliminate” robbers, rapist, and gossipers, and those from outside the municipality were declared “military targets”.
The people of Argelia are scared as this might be a warning of future violent acts. They reported the presence of various armed groups in the area- including ELN (National Liberation Army), FARC (The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), dissident groups that did not participate in the Peace Agreement, paramilitary groups and criminal gangs believed to be involved in drug trafficking; the municipality of Algeria is identified as a drug trafficking activity corridor.
