Excmo. Sr. Presidente Iván Duque Márquez, President of the Republic of Colombia
Sr. Fiscal General Néstor Humberto Martínez Neira, Attorney General of Colombia
May 26, 2019
Dear Sirs,
We are shocked and devastated to learn that 130 former members of the demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have been killed since the signing of the peace agreement between the FARC and the Colombian Government in 2016.
Among those most recently murdered is Giovanny Murillas,who was killed on May 11 in Guaviare Department. The killing occurred after the AGC paramilitary group (Autodefensas Gaitanistas, or Gaitanista Self-Defense Group) distributed pamphlets in communities in eastern Colombia which labeled FARC members as “military objectives” and announced a “plan to exterminate the guerrillas camouflaged in various social and union organizations.”
On May 14, former FARC commander Jorge Enrique Corredor, also known as “Wilson Saavedra,” was shot five times as he was buying a birthday cake for one of his five children in Tuluá, Valle del Cauca Department. He died shortly thereafter in a local health center. He is the highest-ranking member of the FARC murdered since the peace agreement was signed in 2016. Leading up to the peace talks, Jorge Corredor played a key role in establishing contact between the government and the FARC. After the signing of the peace agreement, he was an administrator in the transition camp in Marquetalia where FARC members are based during their retraining and reincorporation. In recent months, he had been developing a sustainable community project in the area between FARC members and local peasant farmers, which was supported by the United Nations and local authorities.
Despite the high level of risk, the vast majority of FARC members continue to work towards implementing the peace agreement and completing their transition to civil society. FARC Senator Pablo Catatumbo, a personal friend of Jorge Corredor, said that the murder of Corredor “should mobilize the Colombian people to protect the desire for a stable and lasting peace.”
We strongly urge that you
- conduct an immediate and complete investigation into the killings of Giovanny Murillas and Jorge Enrique Corredor, publish the results, and bring those responsible to justice;
- guarantee political participation and reincorporation into civilian life for former FARC combatants, as agreed to in the peace agreement of 2016.
Sincerely,
Brian J. Stefan Szittai
Christine Stonebraker-Martínez
Co-Coordinators
copies:
Francisco Santos Calderón, Ambassador of Colombia to the US ~ via fax: 202.232.8643 and email
Rebecca Daley, Human Rights Officer, US Embassy in Colombia ~ via email
Ryan Reid and Christine Russell, Desk Officers for Colombia, US State Dept ~ via email
Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli, Rapporteur for Colombia and Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ~ via email, US mail
US Senators Brown & Portman ~via email
US Representatives Beatty, Fudge, Gibbs, Gonzalez, Johnson, Jordan, Joyce, Kaptur, Latta, Ryan ~ via email
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