Death of Donovan Balanta in Bogotá: evidence at risk and CTI has yet to visit the scene
Donovan Balanta, 34, died following a police procedure in Ciudad Bolívar. Family members and activists warn that key evidence is at risk because the CTI has not inspected the site.
Donovan Balanta's family demands justice as case evidence could be lost
Donovan Balanta Paz, 34, died on 20 September after being detained by uniformed officers in the Caracolí sector, in Ciudad Bolívar, south of Bogotá. According to infobae.com, the man was taken to a cardiovascular hospital in Soacha, where he was admitted without vital signs. Seven police officers from the Soacha Metropolitan Police were suspended from their positions whilst investigations proceed.
On Friday 25 September, dozens of relatives and members of the Afro-descendant community held a sit-in outside the General Prosecutor's Office building in Fontibón to demand an investigation into alleged police abuse. The demonstration began after 9:00 a.m. and continued despite the rain. A day earlier, Balanta Paz's relatives had said goodbye to him at Jardines del Apogeo cemetery.
Allegations over the CTI and the risk to evidence
During the sit-in, former senator and Historical Pact activist María José Pizarro made serious allegations about the judicial process. "We are here demanding justice, a diligent and effective investigation. The community tells us that they have not yet received the necessary support, and that even the investigative police, the CTI, has not shown up in Caracolí and the evidence that could determine responsibilities and why this disproportionate use of force occurred is at risk," Pizarro stated in a video shared from her X account.
The former congresswoman also accompanied the family alongside lawyer Alí Bantú Ashanti, executive director of the Racial Justice Collective, who offered his legal services to defend Balanta Paz's relatives. "The Black youth of this country, the poor youth of this country cannot continue to be singled out and murdered with impunity. Impunity cannot continue to reign in our country," Pizarro added.
Video shows the moments of the procedure
Former president Gustavo Petro released a recording of the procedure that occurred in Caracolí on Friday. The images, originally distributed by the media outlet Canal 91+, show several uniformed officers assaulting Balanta when he was already subdued on the ground. Journalist Hollman Morris, in the audiovisual report, stated that the officers insulted the man and hit him with their helmets while he remained immobilised.
The same report states that the officers removed his shoes, applied an electric shock to him, and then put him in a patrol car. Hours later, Balanta arrived without vital signs at the hospital centre in Soacha. Petro shared the video with an invitation to watch the report to "break through the Matrix of lies".
Questions about the officers' jurisdiction
Representative to Congress for Bogotá Daniel Monroy called for an investigation and noted that Balanta was a "victim of police abuse and racism". According to the congressman, the uniformed officers discriminated against him because of his skin colour, dragged him, and applied an electric shock to him until he lost consciousness.
An additional factor raised questions: the seven uniformed officers belonged to the Soacha Police, but the intervention occurred in Ciudad Bolívar, territory of the Capital District of Bogotá. That circumstance raised questions about the authority of officers from that municipality to act outside their jurisdiction.
Bantú Ashanti took up that point and publicly asked whether those police officers could conduct activities in a different jurisdiction. The lawyer also demanded measures against the violence that, according to his position, systematically affects the Afro, poor and victimised population of Bogotá.
The mayor's response and the lawyer's reply
Bogotá's mayor, Carlos Fernando Galán, stated that all District entities are available to support the investigations and called on the competent authorities to accelerate the process. "It is fundamental to exercise authority, and we support the Police in that task, but when cases of abuse exist, these must be punished. We will not tolerate them or cover them up for any reason," he wrote on X.
Bantú Ashanti questioned whether Galán, as the capital's highest police authority, would assume responsibility for what occurred. In a direct message to the district mayor, the jurist wrote: "Do not come here to throw the stone and then hide your hand. You incite those officers who go out like dogs drooling hatred to stop and search, hit, kidnap, mistreat and in many cases with uniform and without it to apply the death penalty. We are sick of that violence and you are also notified. What you sow, you shall reap!"
On Thursday 24 September, the same lawyer had posted on X: "Today, the earth will claim Donovan's body. Family members and relatives say goodbye to him now at Jardines del Apogeo cemetery," and called "on all the Afro people to the streets to demand justice for Donovan". Bantú Ashanti maintained that if the State does not deliver justice, his relatives will demand it "until they achieve it".
Source: Google News CO — Bogotá