ICC asked to formally investigate mass killings of social leaders in Colombia

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ICC asked to formally investigate mass killings of social leaders in Colombia

15 April 2019

By Emily Hart

Human rights defenders from Colombia and Europe formally asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the ongoing killing of social leaders in the South American country on Friday.

Social leaders, accompanied by opposition politicians, delivered the report to the ICC in The Hague, the Netherlands, in which they formally asked the court to open investigations into the systematic murders and who is behind them.

Local police said some 500 people from across Europe showed up at the ICC headquarters.

According to the organizations, Colombia’s failure to adequately investigate and try those behind the assassinations allows for international intervention.

The Colombian state is not itself competent to investigate the killings themselves, due to conflicts of interests, illegal elements active within state institutions, and a “clear lack of political will,” according to the report handed to the ICC.