UN: Violence rising in rural Colombia despite peace deal

By MANUEL RUEDA
Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The United Nations Human Rights Office says in a report that violence is increasing in many rural areas of Colombia despite a 2016 peace deal between that nation’s government and its largest guerilla group. It called on the Colombian government to boost rural development schemes and set up a legal framework that will encourage members of Colombia’s remaining illegal groups to demobilize. The report on Territorial Violence in Colombia said homicides decreased after the government signed the peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which ended five decades of war. But it noted that in the past two years violence has increased significantly in remote areas.