Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squadron
Encyclopedia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n National Police
Colombian National Police
The National Police of Colombia is the national police force of Colombia. Although the National Police is not part of the Military of Colombia , it constitutes along with them the "Public Force" and is also controlled by the Ministry of Defense. They are the largest police force in Colombia...
Riot control
Riot control
Riot control refers to the measures used by police, military, or other security forces to control, disperse, and arrest civilians who are involved in a riot, demonstration, or protest. Law enforcement officers or soldiers have long used non-lethal weapons such as batons and whips to disperse crowds...
unit specialized on preventing and/or controlling public disturbances and riots, as well as controlling large masses of people. This unit is under the command of the Operative Directorate of the Colombian National Police.http://www.policia.gov.co/inicio/portal/unidades/dirop.nsf/paginas/Mision-ESMAD
History
The Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios (ESMAD) was born as a decentralized unit from the Colombian National Police on February 24, 1999 by a transitional directorate, beginning with 9 officers, 8 non-commissioned officers and 200 patrollers mainly to support Colombian DepartmentsDepartments of Colombia
Colombia is an unitary republic formed by thirty-two departments and a Capital District . Each department has a Governor and a Department Assembly , elected by popular vote for a four-year period. The governor cannot be re-elected in consecutive periods...
and Metropolitan police forces to control and/or neutralize population disturbances or public events when their forces seem outnumbered or incapable to handle their action capacity. It was later legalized by resolution 01363 of April 14, 1999.http://www.policia.gov.co/inicio/portal/unidades/dirop.nsf/paginas/ResenaHistorica-ESMAD
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
issues http://www.policia.gov.co/inicio/portal/unidades/dirop.nsf/paginas/ResenaHistorica-ESMAD however in 2006, it was largely criticized and questioned for some of their actions during the National University of Colombia
National University of Colombia
The Universidad Nacional de Colombia , also called UNAL or just UN, is a public, national, coeducational, research university, located primarily in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, Colombia...
riots. This riot police unit was also questioned by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is a United Nations agency that works to promote and protect the human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948...
after the death of six protesters.http://www.eltiempo.com/opinion/columnistas/otroscolumnistas/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR-3331934.html
Regional Operational Divisions
There are seven active mobile squadrons operating in Colombia:- BogotáBogotáBogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
: Mobile Group I, Mobile Group II, Mobile Group III - MedellínMedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
: Mobile Group IV - CaliCalìCalì, also written in English as Cali, is an Italian surname, widespread mainly in the Ionian side of Sicily.For the surname Calì is assumed the origin of the Greek word kalos , or from its Sanskrit root kali, "time."The surname refers to:...
: Mobile Group V - BarranquillaBarranquillaBarranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
: Mobile Group VI - BucaramangaBucaramangaBucaramanga is a Colombian city, and capital city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth largest city economy and sixth largest population in Colombia, with 1,212,656 people in its metropolitan area...
: Mobile Group VII
