Human Rights Watch documented a wide range of abuses committed against scores of victims in Tumaco in and in which there is compelling evidence the FARC was responsible. These abuses included killings, disappearances, kidnapping, torture, forced displacement, attempted forced recruitment, planting landmines, extortion, and death threats against community leaders. Paramilitary successor groups also engaged in rampant atrocities in Tumaco until they stopped operating in the municipality in late There is compelling evidence that members of the security forces have been responsible for some human rights violations there as well.
Human Rights Watch visited Tumaco in May and June and interviewed more than 90 abuse victims, their relatives, community leaders, and local officials, among others. Research also drew on government data, official reports, and criminal case files.
Human Rights Watch documented abuses in Tumaco against more than 70 victims since in which there is strong indication the FARC was responsible, including 12 killings, 3 disappearances, 6 cases of attempted forced recruitment, and 5 cases of torture, among other types of abuse. Human Rights Watch also documented abuses against 16 victims in recent years in which evidence points to the perpetrators being paramilitary successor groups, including the disappearance of three teenage girls and attempted forced recruitment of two teenage boys.
Official data strongly suggests that the FARC and paramilitary successor groups have committed more than killings and dozens of disappearances in Tumaco over the past several years. Tumaco has among the highest officially reported levels of homicides, disappearances, conflict-related sexual violence and abuse, landmine victims, and forced displacement in Colombia. More than 10, Tumaco residents have fled their homes annually since , according to government figures.
Over the past decade, the FARC and paramilitary successor groups — principally the Rastrojos — vied for control of Tumaco. Paramilitary successor groups emerged in Tumaco after the deeply flawed official demobilization of right-wing paramilitary organizations. Since late , the FARC has established an undisputed presence in many of the urban and rural areas of Tumaco, after numerous Rastrojos members were arrested and several neighborhoods succeeded in expelling the group.
