Colombia Ombudsman Tells the President the Dead Are Not Scenery
COLOMBIA · HUMAN RIGHTS
Key Facts
- —The operation Operation Azarías in Guaviare department left 23 members of armed groups dead, according to official accounts.
- —The scene President Abelardo de la Espriella walked among bodies in white bags laid out for the media.
- —The objection The ombudsman’s office said the dead should not become part of the scenery of public statements.
- —The quote Ombudswoman Iris Marín Ortiz said the state cannot enter a competition over who can be more cruel.
- —The catch The complaint is about how the results were presented, not about whether the operation was lawful.
- —The office The ombudsman is a constitutional body, not an opposition party or an outside campaign group.
Twenty-three people were killed in the operation. The dispute is not about that. It is about what was done with the bodies afterwards.
The Colombia ombudsman has objected to how the government presented the results of a military operation. The objection is not about the operation itself.
Operation Azarías was carried out in Guaviare, a department in Colombia’s southern lowlands. Official accounts put the dead at 23 members of armed groups, among them the front commander known as alias El Tigre.
Images and video showed President Abelardo de la Espriella walking among bodies in white bags. They had been laid out and shown to the media as part of the official announcement of the results.
The front operates under a commander known by the alias Iván Mordisco. Colombia’s forensic institute confirmed on 4 September that two of the 23 dead were minors.
What the Ombudsman Said
The bodies of people killed in military operations must receive dignified treatment. They should not, the office said, become part of the scenery of public statements.
The ombudswoman, Iris Marín Ortiz, put it more directly in remarks reported on 7 September. The state and the government, she said, cannot enter into a competition to show who can be more cruel.
She recalled that even in confrontation with armed organisations, constitutional principles, human rights and international humanitarian law must be respected. That is the legal frame she is invoking, not a rhetorical one.
The office’s own account is plain. In recent days, it wrote, we saw the president walk among bodies in white bags of people killed in Guaviare.
Why the Distinction Matters
Nobody in this dispute is arguing that the operation itself was unlawful. The people killed are described in official accounts as members of armed groups, and forensic authorities said two of them were minors.
The complaint is narrower and, for that reason, harder to deflect. It concerns the handling and display of the dead after the fact.
International humanitarian law requires that the dead be treated with respect. The obligation does not depend on which side they were on.
This is why the Colombia ombudsman framed it as a legal question rather than a matter of taste. A government can dismiss criticism of its aesthetics; it cannot as easily dismiss a treaty obligation.
Who Is Making the Complaint
The Defensoría del Pueblo is a constitutional body. Its head is elected by the Chamber of Representatives, from a three-name shortlist drawn up by the president, for a four-year term.
That matters for how the intervention should be read. This is not a party attacking a president or a foreign group issuing a report.
It is one arm of the Colombian state formally telling another that it went too far. The office has no power to compel a change.
Its instrument is the public record. A documented objection from the ombudsman is what a future inquiry or court would work from.
The Political Setting
De la Espriella took office on 7 August 2026, having campaigned on security. Operation Azarías is among the first large results his government has presented.
Presenting them forcefully is a deliberate choice, and it is one many governments in the region have made. Displaying the dead is where that choice runs into the law.
The same week saw his government lift the general suspension on firearm carry permits. Both moves belong to the same security posture.
A month-old government establishing how it will handle criticism is doing something durable. The response to this complaint sets an expectation.
What to Watch
The first marker is whether the presidency answers the Colombia ombudsman at all. Silence is the cheapest option and it leaves the record standing.
The second is whether the practice repeats. A single episode can be called an error of judgement; a pattern cannot.
The third is the courts. Colombian constitutional litigation frequently begins with exactly this kind of documented objection.
The fourth is the military‘s own guidance. Instructions on how operational results are communicated sit with the armed forces, not only with the palace.
More: Colombia news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Defensoría del Pueblo?
Colombia’s national human rights ombudsman, a constitutional body whose head is elected by the Chamber of Representatives for a four-year term, from a three-name shortlist drawn up by the president. It can investigate and publish findings but cannot compel the government to act.
What was Operation Azarías?
A Colombian military operation in Guaviare department in which official accounts reported 23 members of armed groups killed, among them a front commander known as alias El Tigre. The front operates under a commander known by the alias Iván Mordisco. Colombia’s forensic institute confirmed on 4 September that two of the dead were minors.
What exactly is the objection?
Not the operation, but the handling of the dead afterwards. The ombudsman’s office said bodies should receive dignified treatment and should not become part of the scenery of public statements, after the president was filmed walking among body bags displayed for the media.
Sources: Defensoría del Pueblo de Colombia, El Colombiano, CNN en Español, Seguimiento.co, Tendencia Política, Rio Times.
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