There is a popular show on Netflix called “Narcos” which follows the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar and how he built his cocaine empire within Colombia and the United States. Intentional or not, this show sensationalizes violence, drugs, and Colombian people as drug dealers. Unfortunately, the reality of what much of the world believes Colombia to be is brought to life through this show, while also overshadowing Colombian culture, customs, and other serious problems that call for international attention. One of these serious problems that has been overlooked since the 70s is what is known as social cleansing. Social cleansing is a tactic that eliminates certain people in Colombian society that are deemed as “undesirable”. These “undesirable”
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Many radical social groups and organizations took crime into their own hands by violently retaliating against rapists, murderers, or anyone who might have committed a serious crime as a way of bringing justice and cleaning up society. However, with time, these Robin Hood intentions morphed into a way of targeting society’s outcasts, minorities ––which in this essay references those who lack political, economic, and social power––or anyone who society may deem as “undesirable” including; the homeless, petty criminals, sex workers, drug addicts and/or drug dealers, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and street children, which this essay aims to focus on. Furthermore, these social cleansings, which the United Nations defines as “the elimination of marginalized and impoverished sectors of a population” (Stannow, 14), are no longer solely committed by radical social groups but have now become more systematic. These incidents now frequent within local law enforcement, the military, the city’s Office of Security, and government officials within many parts of Colombia, including major cities like Bogota, Cali, Medellin, and Barranquilla (Schwartz, 394). It is these systematic members, as well as many affluent citizens, who decide who is deemed as “undesirable” and must be “cleaned up” (Stannow, 14). Through this collective thinking, thousands of minorities have been “cleansed”, with, in 1993, solely in Bogota, 2,190 of …show more content…
Social cleansings evidently violate obvious human rights, which is Article 6 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the right to life. However, these murders also violate another convention which is the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), which Colombia signed in 1987. While social cleansing is not explicitly mentioned, a phenomenon known as honour killings and violence is. Honour killing is “used to describe the different forms of violence that take place in the name of so-called honour” (Grans, 307). This type of violence reinforces social norms in a way that “is usually connected to collectivist thinking” (Grans, 308). This type of violence is quite similar to social cleansings and should be treated as such. Further violations of CAT are clear as “acts of torture must have been committed by public officials. This is a common requirement in international jurisprudence under human rights treaties” (Grans, 313). This clause directly applies to social cleansings as the majority of the killings are directly or indirectly committed by public officials. Yet, even though these violations are indubitable, they have not stopped the social cleansings in Colombia which raises the question as to why these murders
Many radical social groups and organizations took crime into their own hands by violently retaliating against rapists, murderers, or anyone who might have committed a serious crime as a way of bringing justice and cleaning up society. However, with time, these Robin Hood intentions morphed into a way of targeting society’s outcasts, minorities ––which in this essay references those who lack political, economic, and social power––or anyone who society may deem as “undesirable” including; the homeless, petty criminals, sex workers, drug addicts and/or drug dealers, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and street children, which this essay aims to focus on. Furthermore, these social cleansings, which the United Nations defines as “the elimination of marginalized and impoverished sectors of a population” (Stannow, 14), are no longer solely committed by radical social groups but have now become more systematic. These incidents now frequent within local law enforcement, the military, the city’s Office of Security, and government officials within many parts of Colombia, including major cities like Bogota, Cali, Medellin, and Barranquilla (Schwartz, 394). It is these systematic members, as well as many affluent citizens, who decide who is deemed as “undesirable” and must be “cleaned up” (Stannow, 14). Through this collective thinking, thousands of minorities have been “cleansed”, with, in 1993, solely in Bogota, 2,190 of …show more content…
Social cleansings evidently violate obvious human rights, which is Article 6 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the right to life. However, these murders also violate another convention which is the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), which Colombia signed in 1987. While social cleansing is not explicitly mentioned, a phenomenon known as honour killings and violence is. Honour killing is “used to describe the different forms of violence that take place in the name of so-called honour” (Grans, 307). This type of violence reinforces social norms in a way that “is usually connected to collectivist thinking” (Grans, 308). This type of violence is quite similar to social cleansings and should be treated as such. Further violations of CAT are clear as “acts of torture must have been committed by public officials. This is a common requirement in international jurisprudence under human rights treaties” (Grans, 313). This clause directly applies to social cleansings as the majority of the killings are directly or indirectly committed by public officials. Yet, even though these violations are indubitable, they have not stopped the social cleansings in Colombia which raises the question as to why these murders