PRESS RELEASE

No.  28/03

          The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed its condemnation of the bomb attack which took place in the early morning hours on Sunday, September 28, 2003, in the so called  “zona rosa” of the City of Florencia, Caquetá Department, in the Republic of Colombia, causing twelve casualties, including a child and two police officers, and numerous wounded.

The IACHR has repeatedly pronounced upon the issue of the seriousness of the growing number of attacks against the civilian population in Colombia.  These acts constitute a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and can entail international criminal responsibility for the individual perpetrators and their accomplices.  In view of the available information on the origin and the circumstances of the attack, the IACHR once again strongly condemns indiscriminate acts of violence committed for the purpose of terrorizing the civilian population, and trusts that the state will adopt the necessary measures to investigate the facts, and to prosecute and punish the perpetrators.

Washington, D.C., September 30, 2003