The undersigned organizations and congress members reject the violent acts of which the Awá people have been victims in the department of Nariño, particularly in the townships of Junín, Buenavista and El Diviso (Barbacoas); the townships of La Guayacana and Llorente (Tumaco) and the municipality of Ricaurte.

We urgently call on local and national authorities and the international community to implement the necessary measures to stop the upsurge in violence and the constant violations of human rights to which the Awá community, and especially young people, have been subjected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to press releases and reports from the Association of Authorities of the Indigenous Unity of the Awá People, UNIPA, since the signing of the Peace Agreement, there have been more than 100 indigenous people from the community who have been threatened, almost 40 leaders have been assassinated, and more than 7 massive displacements with more than 800 people who have had to leave their territory.

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