The International Committee of the Red Cross asks the Colombian armed actors to respect humanitarian norms in Arauca

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) made an appeal this Wednesday to the armed actors in the Colombian department of Arauca, on the border with Venezuela, to respect humanitarian norms and protect the population from hostilities.

“We call on all armed actors to respect humanitarian norms and take precautionary measures to protect the civilian population and objects from the effects of hostilities”, said the head of the ICRC office in Saravena (municipality of Arauca), Nicolas Ferminet, quoted in a statement.

In Arauca and the Venezuelan part on the other side of the border A confrontation began at the beginning of the year between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Tenth and Twenty-eight fronts of the extinct FARC that has escalated brutally and there are already at least 34 deadalthough social organizations speak of 40.

Since then, FARC dissidents have carried out several attacks, among them one with a car bomb against a headquarters of human rights organizations in Saravena that left one dead on January 19 and the armed groups have continued to kill, kidnap and have threatened social leaders and the population.

That is why the head of the ICRC in Saravena asserted that “it is important to guarantee the life and integrity of civilians and preserve community spaces”as well as “maintain coordination between institutions and humanitarian organizations in the area to provide assistance to affected people.”

The Colombian department of Arauca suffers the violence of the clashes between ELN and FARC dissidents

The ICRC reported damage to various infrastructures in the area, including the Saravena hospital, and has distributed groceries and hygiene kits to 75 families in Saravena, Arauquita, Tame and Fortul, the affected municipalities in Colombia.

It is also in contact with families of the disappeared and victims of threats “to follow up on each case.”

In that department, the ELN and the former FARC already clashed in a “guerrilla war” between 2005 and 2011 that left half a thousand civilians dead and a large number of casualties in the ranks of both groups.

From there came an agreement, a kind of “coexistence manual”, where they agreed to respect their territories and not confront each others, which continued to be respected after the demobilization of the FARC.

However, in recent months these two fronts, which are believed to be coordinated by dissident aliases “Gentil Duarte”, they have grown in size and threatened the hegemony that the ELN has in this part of the country and on the Venezuelan side, where it is estimated that they are between 60% and 70% of their troops. (I)