Seven suspected Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas are to be tried today by an indigenous court for allegedly murdering two leaders of the Nasa tribe in western Colombia, officials said.
The leftist rebel fighters face penalties including lashes, expulsion from the territory, forced labor or prison, Northern Cauca indigenous councils association leader Gabriel Pavi said.
When crimes are committed in Aboriginal territory, the punishment for the accused is decided by the community and not the ordinary justice system.
An assembly of about 5,000 members of the indigenous reserve in the Cauca province town of Toribio are to debate for six hours on whether the captured guerrillas are guilty and what sanctions they should face.
“An investigating committee will report to the council authorities. The authorities will put it up for consideration by the assembly, which will determine the remedy to be applied to those who were caught,” Pavi said.
The suspected rebel fighters on Wednesday allegedly attacked two native leaders who were removing billboards praising the late leader of the FARC, Guillermo Leon Saenz, also known as Alfonso Cano.
Pavi said the guerrillas were captured “in uniform and with rifles” and that “all are indigenous.”
The Colombian constitution gives indigenous authorities jurisdiction over their own territory, unless this contravenes the national constitution or the laws of the country.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in