- Young people and adolescents emerge and raise their voices, in the face of emptiness and non-compliance by the Colombian State.
- The situation that Colombia is experiencing today will have an immediate and future impact on the life project of young people in the region.
- Repression should not be an acceptable response to freedom of expression and demonstration, rights that the State has the obligation to guarantee.
On April 28, in response to the tax reform promoted by the President of Colombia, Iván Duque, which considered increases to various taxes; Labor unions, student movements and civil society called for mobilizations and protests, which were violently repressed by the authorities, militarizing public space and violating human rights.
What do girls, boys and adolescents think of the crisis of violence that Colombia is experiencing at this time? The initiative Weaving Childhood Networks in Latin America and the Caribbean invited girls, boys and adolescents from the region to participate, through an intergenerational dialogue in which experts in the defense of children's rights also participated.
Marco Romero from the Social Initiative for Latin America and the Caribbean (ISALC) and defender of human rights, shared an overview of the political, cultural and social context in which the crisis of violence occurs and the implications on the rights of young people and adolescents in the region, highlighting that Colombia has a history of war and violence, with massive arrests, murders and displacements; “We are talking about a dangerous country for social leadership, at the moment the main actor of unemployment are young people, despite the uncertainty and fear; the current government does not promote the peace process by not guaranteeing the right to social mobilization and opening up political participation ”, He said. The expert invited the young people to listen, because they have their own reading of the situation.
Juan Martín Pérez García, Regional Coordinator Weaving Childhood Networks stressed that it is important to make young people who are emerging visible, regarding the demands on their rights, a situation that has increased in the context of a pandemic, in the face of gaps and non-compliance on the part of the State. "The future is being canceled for millions of girls, boys and adolescents, if their demands are not listened to, protests are being criminalized."
For Yasmira, a young Colombian person, what is happening in Colombia does not only respond to the tax reforms of President Iván Duque, but to a social delay in his government, "People who 20 years ago had problems with access to water and health services, continue to have the same problem", he referred.
Also from Colombian territory, Lorena shared her opinion: “The government of Colombia has not taken the pertinent measures to address the crisis due to COVID-19, it has been ignored that there were already other problems, especially the violence that has affected for many years; Faced with this, young people have led demonstrations, making use of our right to protest; even through social networks, what can we do, when the State itself is the one who is violating us? ”.
Repression is not an acceptable response to freedom of demonstration. In the current conflict in Colombia, the rights of children are being violated, such as the right to mobility, the right to a life free of violence; There are even those who are at risk of death, if there is no response from the states, within the framework of human rights, the situation will worsen, added Juan Martín Pérez.
For his part, Camilo, a young Colombian, reported that the greatest human rights violations are against girls, boys, adolescents and young people who are also taking to the streets to demonstrate; "There have been cases of girls and boys with tear gas in their faces, the military does not care if there are teenagers at home and they shoot through the windows, we have not only seen it on videos, we are living it."
For José David, 11 years old, he shared some of the situations that are affecting children, such as, for example, when their parents or guardians are trapped and isolated during the mobilizations or in the cases of greatest impact, the childhood that remains orphaned.
Daisy Navarro, a young person and National Peace Counselor, pointed out that there is an accumulated indignation in the Colombian people, at the refusal of President Iván Duque to comply with the agreements made with the social movement, “This scenario highlights the fragility of our democracy, the criminalization and stigmatization of young people, with more than 50 murders, during the national strike, more than 400 cases of disappeared, we have 35 cases of mutilation of young people; today the young people who are mobilizing are called vandals and terrorists ”, mentioned.
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Ollin.TV is an Internet television channel created as part of Weaving Childhood Networks in Latin America and the Caribbean, an initiative co-financed by the European Union, which seeks to contribute to the strengthening and consolidation of a platform for the defense of children and adolescents in 20 countries of America Latin and the Caribbean.
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