CSN Condemns the Use of a Child for Delivering a Bomb

At 3:35 pm on Thursday, March 25, 2010, a child of thirteen years, still in his school uniform, was killed by a package bomb that he had been given to take to the Municipal Police Station in El Charco.  El Charco is located in Colombia’s turbulent, coca-growing Southwest and has a population of 29,000.  Both Freddy Padilla, Colombia’s top military commander, and Colonel Ignacio Fajardo Robles, Subcommander of Narino’s Police Debartment, have attributed the Police Station attack to the FARC, although the Police have yet to arrest anyone for this crime. The package the boy was given contained ten kilos, or twenty-two pounds, of dynamite and was detonated by remote control, killing the boy instantaneously and causing very minor injuries to two nearby Police Officers.
         The Colombia Support Network (CSN) very strongly condemns violent activity involving innocent civilians, especially children.  This act shows flagrant disregard for all Human Rights and International Humanitarian Laws. CSN calls for an immediate, in-depth investigation into this act and the surrounding circumstances that led to this egregious action.