Thousands of children recruited by armed groups in Colombia
When Colombian senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot in the head on 7 June, it shocked the international community. After years of growing peace, the attack was a callback to Colombia's most violent years, when cartel-ordered assassinations were a common occurrence.But the identity of the alleged shooter proved even more shocking - a 15-year-old child. A video, shared widely online, shows police arresting a young man with a boyish face and hair over his shoulders, wearing blue jeans and a green T-shirt.Media has reported that after he was swiftly arrested, he cried out: "I did it for money for my family." He subsequently pleaded not guilty, the prosecutor's office said. Turbay has remained in critical condition at a clinic in Bogotá since last Saturday. Authorities are now searching for the people behind this crime, who allegedly used the boy to carry out the hit.Unfortunately, if it proves to be true, the boy's story is all too common. According to the Colombian Ombudsman's Office, 409 children and teenagers were recruited by armed groups in 2024, an increase from the 342 cases reported in 2023.Authorities acknowledge that the data is underestimated.Decades of armed conflict and organised crime have left thousands of children victims of violence in Colombia.Over the years, many have been recruited by now-extinct drug organizations like the Medellin cartel led by Pablo Escobar and left-wing guerrillas, paramilitary forces and new armed and criminal groups."Minors were even used by public forces in undercover missions. Every single actor of the conflict has recruited minors," Max Yuri, director of the Institute of Political Studies at Antioquia University, told BBC Mundo.
The child hitmen hired by Escobar
In the 1980s, many youngsters and minors were picked up by Escobar to carry out hits."It was known as the practice of 'Los suizos'. Many youngsters and minors joined suicidal missions," Jorge Mantilla, a criminologist and security consultant and security coordinator for the Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development, told BBC Mundo.One of the most infamous was John Jairo Arias Tascón, known as 'Pinina,' considered to be one of the hitmen closest to Escobar.He is linked to several high-profile crimes, such as the assassination of the minister of justice Rodrigo Lara Bonilla in 1984; the attack on Avianca Flight 203, in which 110 people died in 1989; as well as several murders of politicians, journalists, civilians, and criminal adversaries.Pinina died aged 29 in a shoot-out with police in 1990 in Medellin. It is believed he started as a hitman as young as 15-years-old.On 22 March 1990, another 14-year-old boy named Andrés Arturo Gutiérrez Maya shot and killed presidential candidate Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa at Bogotá's El Dorado airport.Then there was Gerardo Gutierrez, "Yerry", another young man who ended up being the main suspect in the killing of presidential candidate Carlos Pizarro Leongomez in 1990.Escobar was initially blamed for the crime, but he denied any involvement.According to the Historical Memory Center in Colombia, "Yerry" was shot dead by a bodyguard. Years later, the leader of the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, Carlos Castaño, admitted that he trained the hitman and planned the crime along with corrupted Colombian officials.To this day, the murder of Pizarro has not been fully solved.
Minors as war weapon
Recruited children usually share a common background.Most come from low-income urban areas or isolated rural territories where the Colombian state has a limited presence.There is a difference, however, between rural and urban recruitment.While minors in urban areas often seek to improve their economic and social status, many rural youths are forcibly recruited by armed groups, who also harass and threaten their families."It is a cheap labour force, easy to replace. Because of their malleability, they are often assigned acts of terror such as dismemberment," Mr Yuri said."It is common for them in cities to also be involved in the transportation of weapons, drugs, drug dealing, extortion collection, hitmen work, and murders," he added.The Special Jurisdiction for Peace estimates that more than 18,000 children were recruited by Farc guerrilla between 1996 and 2016, when this left-wing group signed a peace deal with the government.But continued clashes between Colombian forces and other guerrilla groups mean that the demand for child hitmen has not gone away.Meanwhile, the recruitment methods have become more sophisticated.In June 2024, the BBC reported how armed groups are using tools such as TikTok to reach youngsters in isolated areas in Colombia.
Rising numbers
A report by the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo states that 1,953 minors were reported missing in 2024, more than half of whom are still unaccounted for.The information is based on data provided by the National Institute of Legal Medicine, and one of the theories behind the disappearances is that the children may have been forcibly recruited.Children who live in impoverished regions are especially vulnerable. Of the 409 minors the Ombudsman's Office identified as having been recruited, about 300 were detected in Cauca, a troubled part of Colombia where coca is grown to make cocaine, that has become a frequent site of military operations.Other hotspots for recruitment were Putumayo and Cauca Valley, where the conditions of violence are similar.Mr Mantilla said that some recent data indicated forced recruitment may have skyrocketed by 1,200% in the last few years since the pandemic. The rise is attributed to economic decline in vulnerable areas post-pandemic, and the territorial expansion of armed groups, Mr Yuri said. He also said public institutions are better at tracking these youths than they once were, leading to a rise in the overall official numbers. "Child recruitment has been possible because of the existence of unprotected, abandoned and marginalised children, and legal loopholes in the Colombian justice system," Mr Mantilla said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Reuters
Panama temporarily suspends some constitutional guarantees in protest-rocked province
PANAMA CITY, June 20 (Reuters) - Panama's government on Friday temporarily suspended some constitutional rights in the western province of Bocas del Toro hours after vandals ransacked businesses and government offices, following more than a month of protests and road blocks. "In the face of the disruption of order and acts of systematic violence, the state will enforce its constitutional mandate to guarantee peace," said Juan Carlos Orillac, minister of the presidency, adding the measure would be in place for five days.
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- The Guardian
US elected officials face wave of violent threats prompting calls for security
A fresh wave of violent threats and incidents targeting elected officials broke out in the US this week, prompting more urgent calls for increased security measures just days after the killing of a Minnesota state legislator and the shooting of another. Amid a series of attacks involving federal and local officials, the latest incidents included death threats against Zohran Mamdani, the New York mayoral candidate, a purported road rage attack on Max Miller, the Ohio congressman, and an alleged kidnapping attempt targeting Paul Young, the mayor of Memphis. The New York police department (NYPD) hate crimes task force is investigating multiple death threats against Mamdani, a Muslim democratic socialist candidate in the final stretch of his campaign and endorsed by national figures such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The intimidation included threats to blow up his car and Islamophobic voicemails left at Mamdani's office in the city's Queens borough. 'The violent and specific language of what appears to be a repeat caller is alarming and we are taking every precaution,' his campaign said Thursday, blaming the threats on 'dehumanizing, Islamophobic rhetoric designed to stoke division and hate'. Miller contacted the US Capitol Police after being 'run off the road' by a man displaying a Palestinian flag who allegedly yelled 'death to Israel'. Miller, who is Jewish and on the US Holocaust Memorial Council, said the incident occurred while driving in his congressional district and that he knows the identity of his alleged assailant, who also threatened to kill his family. Early on Friday afternoon, a man was arrested in connection with the incident. The suspect was named as Feras Hamdan, 36, of Westlake, near Cleveland, and authorities said he turned himself in to police and is due to appear in court, according to local media reports. Meanwhile, Memphis police arrested 25-year-old Trenton Abston on charges including stalking and attempted kidnapping after he allegedly scaled a wall at Young's residence in Tennessee with what police described as a 'nervous demeanor'. Officers recovered 'a taser, gloves, rope and duct tape' from the suspect's vehicle. The string of incidents came just days after the killing of Melissa Hortman, a Minnesota Democratic state representative, and her husband Mark, with John Hoffman, a state senator, and his wife seriously wounded in a separate attack by the same gunman last Saturday as anti-Trump 'No Kings' protests were getting underway for millions across the country. The suspect, Vance Boelter, 57, was captured after a large manhunt and faces murder charges, amid reports that he is an extremist and was pro-Trump and anti-abortion. The discovery of a hit list containing 'dozens and dozens' of Democratic politicians' names in Boelter's car has sent new shockwaves through the political community. Hillary Scholten, a member of Congress from Michigan, cancelled a public town hall, citing safety concerns. The escalating threats have left congressmembers from both parties demanding additional security funding and enhanced protection measures in recent days, as fears grow that political violence is becoming normalized across American politics. The Capitol Police requested nearly $1bn in funding for next year, while Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, posted that 'the violence and threats against elected officials has drastically increased' and called for more money to protect lawmakers. Capitol Police investigated 9,474 threats to lawmakers and their families last year, an increase of nearly 1,500 compared with 2023, which have escalated over the last five years but peaked in 2021. Only eight convictions were made over the threats in 2024, according to a bipartisan letter from Bryan Steil, a Wisconsin representative, and Joseph Morelle, a New York representative, sent Tuesday to the Department of Justice. Mike Johnson linked the violence to broader political rhetoric. 'What happened to Max [Miller] this morning is yet another outrageous example of unhinged rhetoric inspiring unstable people to threaten and attack elected officials,' the House speaker said. 'We must turn down the temperature in this country.'
Reuters
10 hours ago
- Reuters
North Carolina resident killed in Puerto Rico for flashy jewelry
SAN JUAN, June 20 (Reuters) - A North Carolina resident vacationing with his family in Puerto Rico was killed overnight in a robbery, leaving him stripped of the luxury jewelry he was wearing, police said on Friday. Noa Joshua Ameson, 38, was on vacation in Manati, to the west of capital San Juan. Police told Reuters the beachside neighborhood where the incident took place is usually quiet and robberies of this nature are uncommon, marking a rare outbreak of violence in the area. Ameson and his family were returning to the vacation home they were renting when armed, masked attackers intercepted them, Axel Valencia, spokesperson for the Puerto Rico police, told Reuters. Valencia added that Ameson may have tried to fight back when one of the attackers shot him. He was taken to hospital, where he died. Police are working to obtain security footage and to identify a vehicle which the attackers may have escaped in, Valencia added.
