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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 A prominent human rights group said Wednesday that rebel groups in Colombia committed \u201cgrave abuses\u201d against civilians as they fight for control of the Catatumbo, a resource-rich region along Colombia\u2019s border with Venezuela.<\/p>\n
In a 12-page report, Human Rights Watch accused the rebels of executing unarmed farmers and forcibly recruiting dozens of children into their ranks. The group also called on Colombia\u2019s government to speed up investigations into homicides in Catatumbo, where at least 78 people were killed in January and February, after a truce ended between rebel groups in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur research points to widespread abuses against ordinary people,\u201d said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director for HRW.<\/p>\n
According to the Colombian Human Rights Ombudsman\u2019s Office, more than 56,000 people have been displaced from their homes in the Catatumbo region since Jan. 16, when the National Liberation Army, or ELN, launched a violent campaign<\/a> to strengthen its grip on the area.<\/p>\n Human Rights Watch said that in some villages, the rebels dragged people out of their homes and shot those who they accused of being collaborators of a rival group known as the FARC-EMC.<\/p>\n Human Rights Watch interviewed 65 people for its investigation, including judicial officials, aid workers and displaced farmers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems that the ELN is trying to control the border with Venezuela, partly due to the drug trade,\u201d said Juan Pappier, Human Rights Watch deputy director for the Americas. \u201cAnd for that they\u2019ve long benefited from the complicity of Venezuelan security forces.\u201d<\/p>\n Some people who fled the Catatumbo region told Human Rights Watch that the ELN executed farmers in front of their families.<\/p>\n Others accused the FARC-EMC group of running forced labor camps, where local people who were accused of committing crimes were forced to cut sugar cane for more than 12 hours a day.<\/p>\n Human Rights Watch urged Colombia\u2019s Attorney General’s office to increase the number of prosecutors and investigators in the Catatumbo region, and to provide protection for them, so that these crimes can be further investigated.<\/p>\n The Colombian government suspended peace talks with the ELN on Jan. 20, after news emerged of the ELN\u2019s attacks on several villages in Catatumbo.<\/p>\n President Gustavo Petro, who was a member of a rebel group during his youth, has accused the ELN\u2019s leadership of becoming \u201cgreedy\u201d drug traffickers and of abandoning their revolutionary ideals.<\/p>\n Violence decreased in Colombia following a 2016 peace deal with the nation\u2019s largest rebel group, FARC, in which more than 13,000 fighters laid down their weapons.<\/p>\n But some isolated areas, including the Catatumbo region, have seen an uptick in homicides, extorsion and forced displacement, as smaller groups fight for control of territories abandoned by the FARC.<\/p>\n The National Liberation Army, has an estimated 6,000 fighters<\/a> in Venezuela and Colombia, according to Colombia\u2019s Ministry of Defense.<\/p>\n ____<\/p>\n Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n