The cases included in this document represent the pattern of human rights violations in Colombia, where over 20,000 people have been killed since 1986 against a background of civil conflict and drug-related violence. They are: the torture and murder of 13 villagers in Riofrio; the killing of Arsario Indian Gregorio Nieves and the torture and ill-treatment of other Indians by the military; the “disappearance” of Isidro Caballero Delgado and Maria del Carmen Santana; the “disappearance” of Dr Alirio de Jesus Pedraza Becerra; the killing of Swiss missionary Sister Hildegard Maria Feldmann and others at El Sande; the abduction and killing of trade unionist Gustavo Chinchilla Jaimes; the “disappearance” of Adela Agudelo Lombana; the “disappearance” of Delio Vargas Herrera; the killing of Blanca Cecilia Valero de Duran; the killing of 10 young people at Villatina; the killing of Father Tiberio de Jesus Fernandez Mafla, Oscar Pulido Rozo and the “disappearance” of Alba Isabel Giraldo; the “disappearance” of Jose Drigelio Diaz Fierro and the harassment of his common-law wife and daughters; the kicking to death of street dweller Miguel Angel Martinez; the killing of members of the Palacios family.
