Children in Colombia are frequently the victims of human rights violations. In areas of armed conflict young people have been killed, “disappeared” or been subject to harassment and torture by the military. Others have been killed when caught in the crossfire between guerilla groups and the security forces. In the cities thousands of street children live in constant fear of attack by “death squads”. There have been growing numbers of reports of killings of “social undesirables” (desechables sociales) in so-called social cleansing operations (operaciones de limpieza social). The majority of such murders are attributed to the so-called “death squads” who have links with the national police. This report contains details of a number of illustrative cases.
