The murder of four children of the Murui indigenous people at the hands of a dissident group of the FARC narco-terrorist guerrilla, in the country’s Amazon was condemned by the Episcopal Conference of Colombia (CEC) on Tuesday.
“The bishops of Colombia express our voice in rejection of these unacceptable actions and invite the country to reflect and act with the decision to definitively achieve the long-awaited peace,” the CEC said in a statement released on 23 May.
The four minors were recruited and then murdered on 17 May, allegedly by the guerrilla group called EMC-FARC, in the department of Putumayo, confirmed local media and the Ombudsman’s Office.
In their statement, the Colombian bishops sent a message of solidarity to the families and communities of the murdered minors. “We ask the Lord to strengthen them in these moments of so much pain,” they said.
At the same time, they denounced “the scandalous and cruel practice of recruiting minors and using them for war, so frequent by various armed actors, which indicates the high level of degradation of the conflict in the country.”
“The Colombian State must ensure the protection of children and adolescents, paying off the historical debt it has had with them and, consequently, has increased the risk of the atrocious inhumanity of many illegal actors,” the prelates urged. from the country.
At the end of the communiqué, the CEC invited “the Colombian people to persevere in prayer for peace and not to give up on the commitment to social transformation through non-violence.”
“War will only bring more war. The search for peace, based on respect for life, human dignity and dialogue, is the way to overcome the multiple forms of violence in the country,” the bishops concluded.