REBEL groups in Colombia have committed “grave abuses” against civilians as they fight for control of the resource-rich border region of Catatumbo Human Rights Watch (HRW) said yesterday.

In a 12-page report, the rights NGO accused rebels of executing unarmed farmers and forcibly conscripting dozens of children. 

The group also called on Colombia’s government to speed up investigations into murders in the region, where at least 78 people were killed in January and February, after a truce ended between rebel groups in the area.

“Our research points to widespread abuses against ordinary people,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director for HRW.

According to the Colombian Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office, more than 56,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Catatumbo since January 16, when the National Liberation Army (ELN) launched a violent campaign to strengthen its grip on the area.

HRW said that in some villages, rebels dragged people out of their homes and shot those who they accused of being collaborators of a rival group known as the Farc-EMC.

The rights group interviewed 65 people for its investigation, including judicial officials, aid workers and displaced farmers.

HRW deputy director for the Americas Juan Pappier said: “It seems that the ELN is trying to control the border with Venezuela, partly due to the drug trade.” 

Some people who fled Catatumbo told HRW the ELN had executed farmers in front of their families.

The Colombian government suspended peace talks with the ELN on January 20, after news emerged of the ELN’s attacks on several villages in the area.

President Gustavo Petro, who was a member of a rebel group during his youth, has accused the ELN’s leadership of becoming “greedy” drug traffickers and of abandoning their revolutionary ideals.