In the run up to elections at the weekend, FARC have intensified their attacks in rural areas. Since mid-February rebels have tried to block transport by bloody means; Wednesday, snipers killed a civilian in a convoy under military escort. 10 days ago, FARC killed nine passengers on a crowed minibus.

Many organisations have condemned this violence, with the same vigour that they have condemned other unacceptable violent acts carried out by extreme right wing paramilitaries who support the current President and those perpetrated by some members of the Colombian army, when they occurred.

It is regrettable that the Colombian Embassy in Paris, in an apparently systematic campaign that seeks to equate Human Rights Organisations with the rebels, releases a press statement maintaining that these associations would not condemn violent acts against civilians when they are committed by FARC.

If in our countries this type of disinformation would merely discredit its authors and seriously damage their credibility, this is not the case in Colombia where such statements issued repeatedly, lead to real threats to the lives of directors of local Human Rights organisations. Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world to be involved in the defence of Human Rights.