Colombia: Shoot on Sight: Eye Trauma in the Context of the National Strike

Colombia: Excessive force by riot police during National Strike left more than 100 people with eye trauma

Violence and repression by the Colombian security forces, especially the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD), have resulted in hundreds of victims sustaining eye trauma, said Amnesty International, Temblores and the Programa de Acción por la Igualdad y la Inclusión Social (PAIIS) of the Universidad de los Andes in a new report published today.

Colombia: Shoot on Sight: Eye Trauma in the Context of the National Strike documents 12 cases of police violence that resulted in irreversible eye trauma. Four of the cases occurred in previous years and eight in the context of the 2021 National Strike, in the cities of Bogotá, Popayán, Florencia, Medellín and Manizales. Amnesty International’s Digital Verification Corps analysed more than 300 pieces of audiovisual material on the disproportionate and repressive actions of ESMAD between 28 April and 20 October, concluding that officials carried out widespread human rights violations against protesters by inflicting eye injuries through the disproportionate use of less lethal weapons.