Rapid Response Network

Despite high numbers of Colombian Armed Forces in Arauca Department, there are several illegal armed groups operating with impunity. In light of escalating violence over the past two weeks, we are urging that the government reevaluate the mission of the Colombian Armed Forces in Arauca and investigate whether there are ties between members of the Colombian Armed Forces and other armed groups operating in Arauca. Such ties have been suggested by residents of high conflict areas of Arauca. Our letter was prompted by several reports of violence in Arauca, including the assassinations of these social leaders: January 19 - José Avelino Pérez Ortiz, a local leader of the Joel Sierra Human Rights Foundation (JSHRF), was killed in a rural area outside of Arauca municipality; January 25- Álvaro Peña Barragán, president of the Community Action Board of La Union village in Saravena municipality, was killed in a rural zone outside of Tame municipality; January 26 - Rosalba Carmenza Tarazona Ortega, the widow of Álvaro Peña Barragán, was assassinated at her mother-in-law’s house during the wake for her dead husband; February 1 - Hermán Naranjo Quintero, member of the Community Action Board of Corocito (Tame municipality), was kidnapped by armed men. His dead body was discovered the following day.

María del Carmen Molina Imbachi, a 31-year-old community leader, was home on December 31 celebrating New Year’s Eve with her family when tragedy struck. Armed men abruptly entered the home, took María del Carmen outside, and assassinated her in front of her family and neighbors. Well-respected and loved by her neighbors in the Buenos Aires district of San Pedro municipality (Valle del Cauca Department), María del Carmen Molina Imbachi had served her community as secretary of the local Community Action Board. Her death brings the total of social leaders killed in Colombia during 2021 to 171 (documented) and 1,286 since the signing of the Peace Accords in November 2016. In addition to an impartial investigation into her assassination, we are urging that the Colombian government reevaluate the mission of the 3rd Division of the Colombian Army, which is stationed in this central region of Valle del Cauca, and its relationship with illegal armed groups operating in the area, including the Columna Móvil Adán Izquierdo de las disidencias de las Farc, la guerrilla del Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) and other local criminal bands.

Impunity runs rampant in crimes against LGBTI persons in Honduras. Shot in the head at her home in Tegucigalpa on January 10, Thalía Rodríguez became the first transwoman murdered in Honduras this year and the 400th trans person killed in Honduras since 2009. A local businesswoman who ran a neighborhood store for 30 years, Thalía Rodríguez, age 58, was known and respected in the LGBTI rights movement. She was an advocate for discrimination-free living for those diagnosed with HIV. She led the trans rights group Asociación Cozumel Trans and was a member of Red Lésbica Cattrachas. We are urging that authorities in Honduras carry out an investigation into the killing of Thalía Rodríguez, in accordance with a 2021 ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights re the state’s culpability (in the 2009 killing of well-known trans activist Vicky Hernández) and failure to investigate crimes against members of the trans community.

During the final weeks of President Hernández’s term, Miami-based Aura Minerals seemed eager to move full steam ahead with its desecration of a 200-year-old Maya Chortí cemetery in Azacualpa. The military and National Police were deployed to facilitate Aura’s exhumation of graves so that they can get their hands on gold reserves underneath. Community residents trying to protect their deceased relatives’ final resting place are threatened, detained, and beaten. We echo the demands of the residents of Azacualpa to (1) order a suspension of the exhumations of graves in the cemetery, (2) order a retreat of the military and police from the cemetery hill, and (3) reassure the community’s access to the cemetery.

We wrote to officials in Honduras to express our outrage at the constant persecution of Garífuna defenders of their ancestral territories along the northern coast of Honduras. On January 13, police arrested Leonard Brown and Luis Alberto Gutierrez, two Garífuna territorial defenders from the Waba To community in Colón Department. The following day, OFRANEH (Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras) denounced that both men had been "savagely beaten inside the cell" of the local police center. The state has been pressuring Garífuna residents to abandon Waba To at the behest of foreign investors. We demand that authorities: (1) drop criminal charges against Leonard Brown and Luis Alberto Gutierrez; (2) investigate any physical harm inflicted on the men during their arrest and make accountable police agents who are responsible for those injuries; (3) comply with judgments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to protect Garífuna communities against hostility and pressure from intruders and criminal groups; and (4) work with Garífuna leaders to demarcate and register land titles.

We expressed deep concern to officials in Colombia about the lack of government response to the paramilitary invasion of campesino townships and villages in the South of Bolívar which began during the last week of December, despite a large presence of the Colombian Armed Forces. The Armed Forces are allowing paramilitaries to take control. We are worried that massive displacement of villagers might result. We are urging authorities in Colombia to (1) consult with local leadership in the Montecristo region to devise a plan to project the local population from further violence and displacement by paramilitary forces, (2) reevaluate the mission the Colombian Armed Forces in the region, and (3) take decisive actions to dismantle paramilitary groups that are operating in the South of Bolívar.

Pablo Isabel Hernández, a 34-year-old father of four and community leader, was assassinated with seven gunshots just outside his home in Lempira Department on January 9. As a respected Indigenous Lenca leader, he was a constant target of persecution. As an environmental defender, Pablo Isabel Hernández served as president of La Red de Agroecologists of La Biosfera Cacique Lempira Señor de Las Montañas. As a person of faith, he organized local Christian base communities. As a journalist, he directed a community radio station and denounced human rights violations on his program. As a person committed to democratic process, he served as a human rights observer for the national and local elections on November 28.

The National Police and its Anti-Riot Mobile Squad (ESMAD) carried out brutal repression against residents who are protesting against fare increases in Bogota’s TransMilenio transportation system. On January 5, ESMAD agents arrived with two military tanks at the Molinos neighbhorhood of Bogotá. They threw stun grenades at demonstrators and fired tear gas indiscriminately. ESMAD detained a young journalist and kicked him. As many as 2,500 National Police and ESMAD officers were deployed around the city on January 11, when the fare increase went into effect. Many demonstrators have been arrested.

We wrote to officials in Honduras expressing our dismay about a court-ordered eviction of the San Isidro Campesino Cooperative which commenced today when 150 policemen arrived and forcibly evicted 80 families from the cooperative farm. This is an illegal eviction that benefits wealthy private landowners and extractive companies in Honduras. In 2012, the San Isidro Cooperative recovered their lands after an arduous legal process. In 2019, a first eviction was carried out in a context of extreme violence. Yesterday, the San Isidro Cooperative tried to stop this eviction by presenting an appeal in the national jurisdiction court of Francisco Morazán. Although the appeal was accepted, two hours later the judge ordered the eviction of the community. We are urging that authorities in Honduras order an investigation of the judges who are issuing these eviction orders as to whether there has been collusion between the court and private economic interests. Land rights groups are suspecting corruption, influence peddling, and bribery.