“For eight consecutive days, and despite the violence with which the State has repressed social protest, the citizens of Colombia have come out in mass to demonstrate and reclaim their rights in the streets. As the violence of the State becomes more acute, the indignation of citizens grows, as do the reports of police violence. In the last week, we have alerted the international community to the grave human rights situation that the country is confronting,” the group said in a statement.

“In the last hours, our team has worked rigorously to verify and triangulate all information received through complaints reported via our different communication channels. Regrettably, we have to inform citizens, the international community and the media that through our platform GRITA, we have registered that, between 6:00 AM on April 28 and 10:00 am on May 6 of 2021, nationally there have been at least 1,728 cases of violence at the hands of Public Forces,” the group added.

Press release May 6 #SOSColombia #reformapolicialya #6m pic.twitter.com/5QIMPP2VnS

— Temblores ONG ? (@TembloresOng) May 7, 2021

Meanwhile, the Colombian government on Thursday invited protest leaders to dialogue in an effort to calm tensions following more than a week of deadly anti-government demonstrations.

“We have to listen to all sectors of the country but the country also has to listen to the government. That includes those marching but also those not marching,” presidential advisor Miguel Ceballos said.

Last week, the protests began in Colombia against increased taxes and health care reform proposed by the government of President Iván Duque Márquez.

The tax initiative was introduced to expand funding to Ingreso Solidario, a universal basic income social program established in April 2020 to provide relief during the COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia, while the legislative Bill 010 proposed the privatization of health care in Colombia

In large cities such as Bogotá and Cali, thousands to tens of thousands of protestors took to the streets, in some cases clashing with authorities, resulting in casualties.

Groups have said that multiple human rights violations occurred during the protests, though the Duque government denies that any occurred.

President Duque declared that he would fully withdraw his new tax plan, though no new concrete plans were announced, and protests continued.

The protesters denounced the tax reform bill proposed by President Ivan Duque's administration and criticized the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many Colombians believe that the tax reform will leave them poorer in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. (ILKHA)

https://ilkha.com/english/world/37-dead-in-anti-government-protests-in-colombia-12899