U.N. Says Colombia Victims Threatened After Testifying

Three victims of Colombia's 50-year-old conflict who gave testimony as part of peace talks in Havana have received death threats since returning home, the United Nations said Wednesday.

Of the 24 people who have so far told their stories at the talks, three "have appeared on blacklists or received mail with death threats, signed by armed groups launched by ex-paramilitaries," said Fabrizio Hochschild, the U.N.'s resident coordinator in Colombia.

Seven other victims have been the target of attacks on social networks, he told journalists.

"It's obvious from the tone of the statements that these groups oppose the peace process. That implies individuals from civil society writing on social networks, as well as outlawed groups," he said.

Two people escorting the victims have also received threats, said Alejo Vargas, director of the Universidad Nacional's research center on the peace process.

Since it erupted as a leftist guerrilla uprising in the 1960s, the Colombian conflict has at various times drawn in rightwing paramilitary groups and drug traffickers.

The paramilitary groups were officially disbanded a decade ago, but some former members have continued operating.

The current negotiations between President Juan Manuel Santos's government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the largest guerrilla group, have made the most progress so far toward ending the conflict.

As part of the two-year-old talks, victims of the conflict -- which has killed 220,000 people and caused more than five million to flee their homes -- are giving testimony in Havana in a bid to help the two sides reach a deal on reparations.