RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Colombian authorities are still searching for 129 people who were reported missing during the protests of the last weeks, which began on April 28 and left at least 43 people dead, while 290 have already been located.
The Attorney General’s Office informed in a statement that in a joint action with the Ombudsman’s Office, “they have found 290 people who had been reported as unaccounted for. The Urgent Search Mechanism (MBU) is still active with respect to 129 (search) requests”.
The joint communiqué specifies that the institutions consolidated the information received between April 28 and May 23.
The press statement says that the Prosecutor’s Office is also aware of at least one complaint of forced disappearance, which allegedly occurred on May 4 in the town of Zaragoza, in the department of Antioquia (northwest).
On the other hand, the Attorney General’s Office informed that it has reports that 43 people have died during these days, although only “17 of them have a direct link with the protests”.
It detailed that the highest number of deaths occurred in Valle del Cauca (southwest), with 11, among them 8 in Cali, the capital and epicenter of the protests in the country.