BOGOTA , Colombia ( CNN ) -- Guerrillas in Colombia tortured and killed 17 Indians who they believed were helping the government , a governor and two human rights organizations said Wednesday . Marxist rebels with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia , known as FARC , swept into a village in southwest Colombia last week and abducted an undetermined number of Awa Indians , Human Rights Watch said . The guerrillas tortured and killed 17 Awas , including at least two minors , the human rights group said . Another human rights group , the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia , or ONIC , also reported the allegations . Navarro Wolff , the governor of Narino province , where the Awas live , decried the reported killings . `` The guerrillas took several families , recriminating them for their supposed collaboration with the army , '' Wolff told El Pais newspaper . `` A young man was able to escape and told how he had been tied . Later , they tortured him , they beat him and they killed eight with with a knife . '' Nine other villagers also were executed , unconfirmed reports said . The allegations are based partly on the information provided by the young man who said he escaped . Human Rights Watch also said it received reports from `` reliable sources , '' whom the organization did not name . `` These cruel killings violate the most basic principles of human decency and dignity , '' said Jose Miguel Vivanco , the Americas director at Human Rights Watch . `` There is no possible excuse or justification for these horrific actions . '' The remote village is a 12-hour trip away from the nearest large town , and no independent verification has been obtained . Besides the unforgiving terrain , the presence of land mines and the existence of numerous armed groups virtually prevent outsiders from visiting the area . Monsignor Ruben Salazar Gomez , the president of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia , joined the chorus of criticism , alleging a `` crime the whole country should condemn . '' Another religious leader said the Awa need protection . `` We are very worried about the Awa community , '' said Monsignor Gustavo Giron Higuita , the bishop of the city of Tumaco . `` It is a community that is pretty unprotected and that in the past five years has received a type of persecution by armed groups . '' The prelate said that although there were indications that the FARC was behind the killings , `` we are not certain of that , '' El Pais said . The Awas , he said , `` are pacifist , want respect of their organization and want to regain their traditions . We have been accompanying them in this process , and that 's why this hurts so much . '' New York-based Human Rights Watch said group members have made numerous visits to Narino , which is one of Colombia 's 32 departments , or states . Narino is in southwest Colombia , on the Pacific Ocean and the border with Ecuador . The area has a heavy presence of various armed groups and Colombian military forces , and has among the worst human rights conditions in Colombia , the human rights group said . The Awa territories have been particularly affected . The Colombian government has issued a `` risk report , '' warning authorities that civilians in the region are at risk . The FARC is said to have `` confined '' some villages , cutting them off from the outside world and not allowing anyone to enter or leave . In another report Wednesday , ONIC , the indigenous human rights group in Colombia , said the FARC has abducted 120 Awas since February 4 . ONIC said the FARC kidnapped 20 Awa men , women and children February 4 from the Barbacoas area in Narino . The rebels returned the next day and grabbed children who had remained behind , ONIC said , according to Caracol Radio . ONIC also reported that a number of Awa had been knifed to death . The FARC , the largest and oldest guerrilla group in Colombia , has been waging war against the government since the 1960s . Security analysts say the FARC has 9,000 to 12,000 armed guerillas and several thousand supporters , mostly in rural areas . The guerrilla group operates mostly in Colombia but has carried out extortion , kidnappings , bombings and other activities in Venezuela , Panama and Ecuador .
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia accused of torture , allegedly . FARC has killed the Indians for helping the Army , governor reportedly said . Reports are based in part on information from man who said he escaped . Human rights group in Colombia says FARC has abducted the Awas since then .