Alleged Colombia slayings denounced

BOGOTA, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- The alleged slayings of 17 ethnic Awa people by Colombian revolutionaries is a grave human rights violation, advocates said Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch says it has received reports from "reliable sources" that guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, killed approximately 17 Awa members, including at least two minors, in southwestern Colombia last week. The alleged acts, it said, show a "refusal to respect the most basic tenets of humanitarian law."

"These cruel killings violate the most basic principles of human decency and dignity," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "There is no possible excuse or justification for these horrific actions."

In a statement, the group called on Colombian officials to "take immediate action to provide assistance to the displaced population and victims, to protect the civilian population in (the Narino region) and to ensure that all abuses in the region, by all armed groups or forces, are thoroughly investigated and prosecuted."

Government officials said the victims were killed by FARC rebels about 340 miles southwest of Bogota.