Colombia: Indiscriminate and Improper Use of Less Lethal Weapons 1

Brayan Niño Araque

Juan Pablo Fonseca

Juan Pablo Fonseca, 25, a student chef and assistant cook, saw an ESMAD agent fire the teargas cartridge that smashed his right eye during protests in a northern neighborhood of Bogotá on May 1. The agent fired straight at his face, he said. Another witness said that police were firing teargas canisters directly at protesters on the corner where Fonseca was hit. A passer-by took Fonseca to a clinic, where doctors removed his right eye. As of May 14, Fonseca had undergone four surgeries.

Joan Alejandro Martínez Díaz

Joan Alejandro Martínez Díaz, 20, a physics student, was participating in a protest on Avenida de las Américas, in Bogotá, on the night of May 4, when an ESMAD agent shot him in the face with a teargas cartridge, Martínez said. The front row of protesters was throwing rocks at police, Martínez said, but he was walking away, trying to distance himself from them. He turned to see the police beating a protester and saw an agent shoot him with the cartridge. The agent gave no warning, he said, shooting straight at him. A passer-by on a motorcycle drove Martínez to the hospital, where he was treated for bleeding, a bruised forehead, and swelling of his left eye. Human Rights Watch reviewed a doctor’s report that says he is unlikely to regain sight in that eye.