On May 29, 2024, a group of hooded individuals painted National University of Colombia buildings with graffiti, vandalized a motorcycle, and threw potato bombs at university security guards.
The graffiti included messages insulting the university’s newly appointed rector, Jose Ismael Peña.
The event took place amid widespread discontent about the structure for appointing university rectors. Peña received significant backlash after the Higher University Council appointed him as rector, despite only having received eight percent of the vote. The Ministry of Education refused to endorse Peña as the new rector.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about violent and destructive attacks on campus, apparently intended to prevent the functioning of a higher education institution. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, such actions undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.
Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://crisis24.garda.com/alerts/2024/05/colombia-activists-demonstrating-near-national-university-in-bogota-may-29
https://x.com/redstreamnet/status/1816825805936177367
https://redmas.com.co/colombia/Desmanes-en-la-Universidad-Nacional-encapuchados-vandalizan-el-campus-en-Bogota-20240529-0039.html
https://elpais.com/america-colombia/2024-09-09/leopoldo-munera-rector-de-la-universidad-nacional-de-colombia-creo-que-he-demostrado-que-no-soy-instrumento-de-nadie-ni-del-gobierno-ni-de-los-estudiantes.html