The mistreatment, pressures and intimidation they received within the armed group and the longing for a peaceful life led the young people to look for the troops, where they found protection and hope.
As part of military operations in Barrancabermeja, Santander department, Colombian National Army recovered two minors, aged 16 and 17, who had been recruited approximately three years ago by the Camilo Torres front, of the organized armed group ELN.
The teenagers, who were taken to the department of Norte de Santander, had been victims of mistreatment, pressures and intimidation that forced them to endure conditions contrary to their dignity and freedom and, tired of these aggressions, they decided to seek refuge in the troops of the Fifth Brigade, where they found the opportunity to restart their lives.
Faced with this situation, soldiers of the Field Artillery Battalion No. 6 provided them with immediate assistance and the appropriate conditions for their transfer from Catatumbo region to the petroleum district, for their protection, wellbeing and, subsequently, be handed over to the Colombian Family Wellbeing Institute (ICBF), an institution in charge of restoring their rights.
Colombian National Army categorically rejects the forced recruitment of minors, a practice that violates human rights, international humanitarian law and deprives children and adolescents of their legitimate right to grow up in freedom and in safe environments for their development.
This action is the result of the confidence that the inhabitants feel towards the institution, as well as the progress of the permanent campaigns against forced recruitment and the demobilization campaigns that are carried out in the northeast of the country.
In this way, we invite citizens to continue denouncing any situation that threatens the tranquility of Colombian families, through lines 147 of the Military Gaula (Anti-Extortion and Anti-Kidnapping Group) and 107 against terrorism, because security is a job that is built together.
Source: Press – National Army
