50 Activists slain in Colombia under Santos, opposition says

Bogota, Agency
Around 50 political activists have been murdered in Colombia since President Juan Manuel Santos took office in August, the opposition PDA party said Tuesday.

The victims have included leftist politicians, union members, peasant and indigenous leaders as well as human rights defenders, PDA chief Clara Lopez said in a report presented to the leftist party's National Executive Committee.

She spoke of a humanitarian crisis, with "verifiable numbers" and documented cases, as part of a broader pattern of threats and killings that the PDA will continue to monitor.

Colombia faces "an extermination plan against the social sectors and vulnerable population without the government's having reacted to provide sufficient guarantees of life, honor and property," Lopez said.

Santos belongs to the same conservative party as his predecessor, Alvaro Uribe, who left office Aug. 7 after two four-year terms.