Colombia: News & Updates

The Córdoba Controversial Social Foundation-Cordoberxia coordinates the Human Rights Platform of the Colombian Caribbean, covering several departments in the Caribbean zone of Colombia. One of its leaders is Nestor Moreno Ríos. In addition to his work with Cordoberxia, Nestor is also active in several other human rights organizations, including Southern Córdoba Human Rights Network and Observatory of Human Rights of Southern Córdoba (OBDEHSUC). Moreover, Nestor directs the Sociopolitical Think Tank of Córdoba and the Corporación Córdoba Diversa, a nonprofit that works on civil rights and inclusion of the sexual diversity community in his home city of Montería.

When he went to his gym for his 6am morning work out on August 5, a gunman entered and tried to shoot him. Thankfully, the gun jammed after repeated tries, which allowed Nestor just enough time to find refuge and call for help. The rapid action of the police avoided a tragedy.

We urge authorities in Colombia to consult with Nestor Moreno Ríos to devise protection measures, in strict accordance with his wishes.

SINALTRAINAL (the national food and beverage workers union) has been campaigning for fairer conditions and an end to discriminatory practices towards its members at Nestlé’s four plants in Colombia. Nestle has retaliated, illegally firing unionized workers.

Paula Andrea Rojas Franco, Daniela Salazar Ospina, and Alicia Cardiles Fontalvo are all active in the Women and Diverstiy Caucus of SINALTRAINAL. Paula Rojas and Daniela Salazar are involved in a labor dispute at the Nestlé plant in Dosquebradas. Alicia Cardiles has led efforts to denounce gender-based abuses and human rights violations at Seatech International Inc. (producer of Van Camps tuna) in Cartagena.

In July, all three (on separate occasions) were followed and video recorded by unknown individuals on motorcycles. The surveillance and intimidation targeting these union leaders is suspicious. These incidents are occurring in the context of a broader pattern of violence aimed at SINALTRAINAL. In April, the vice president of a local branch, was shot to death in a public establishment in Valledupar.

We urge the government of Colombia to mplement protection measures for these three union leaders, in strict accordance with their wishes and in consultation with SINALTRAINAL.

One of the significant outcomes of the Peace Accords in 2016 was the installation of the JEP (Special Jurisdiction for Peace), which is a justice component of the Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition (SIVJRNR). The JEP functions to investigate, prosecute, and punish the most serious crimes related to the armed conflict that occurred before December 1, 2016, seeking to prioritize victims, clarify the truth, and repair the damage. One of the key partners in the work of the JEP is the civil society organization CSPP (Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners).

Active in the Atlántico Department chapter of CSPP is 27-year-old Nilson de Arco. Last month, as he was meeting in a public space with three other human rights defenders to make a recording, a man on a motorcycle approached them. He got down from his motorcycle and shot Nilson de Arco directly. Nilson was rushed to the hospital and given specialized medical attention.

The assassination attempt on Nilson de Arco must be considered in the context of the increasing number of threats, harassment, and violence perpetrated against human rights defenders in Colombia.  We urge the government to take the necessary measures to ensure that human rights defenders, community leaders, and civil society organizations can carry out their work without fear of reprisals.

There are hundreds of self-governed Indigenous territorial reserves (“resguardos”) throughout Colombia. They have their own community councils and Indigenous Guards. Because the work of the Indigenous Guard involves direct confrontation with armed groups, prominent members are often labeled “military targets.”

Estiben Torres was recently elected to head the Indigenous Guard for the Honduras Reservation (aka U’h Wala Vxiç) in Morales, Cauca Department. At 9pm on June 25, Estiben Torres was leaving a community meeting at the “tulpa” sacred gathering space in the hamlet of Maco, traveling on a motorcycle. He was intercepted by armed men who signaled for him to stop. When he did not obey their request, they chased him and, upon reaching the urban area of ​​Morales, they opened fire, wounding him in one of his lower extremities.

It is unclear to us whether the National Protection Unit (UNP) has allocated security detail specifically to Estiben Torres. According to CRIC (Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca), “the existing measures implemented by the UNP are inefficient and inadequate for the level of risk.” 

We are urging that authorities consult with leaders of CRIC to strengthen security measures for the Indigenous communities of Cauca and their Indigenous Guards.

Despite the historic peace agreement between the Colombia government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in November 2016, the armed conflict continues in various regions of the country. Since January 16 of this year, the National Liberation Army (ELN) has been carrying out a campaign to regain control of large parts of the trans-border Catatumbo River region (Colombia-Venezuela), a strategic location for drug production and trafficking in North Santander Department. They have killed, assaulted, kidnapped, and disappeared civilians whom they accuse of having ties with the 33rd Front, a dissident faction of the demobilized FARC. Fighting and abuses by both sides have reportedly forced over 56,000 people to flee their homes, one of the largest mass displacements in Colombia in decades.

Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations are facing threats. Catatumbo Mothers for Peace (MCP), for example, provides shelter and psychosocial support to displaced women. On June 25, MCP denounced  a series of defamatory content published on a digital platform, which included direct threats to Carmen García, president of the association.  Less than two weeks later, two individuals on motorcycles grabbed her son in front of the group’s women’s shelter in Cúcuta, beat him, and dragged him along the asphalt, causing severe physical and psychological injuries.

We are urging that authorities in Colombia coordinate a protection scheme for Carmen García and her family and implement a comprehensive plan to ensure that all human rights defenders in Catatumbo are able to operate without threats and abuse.

Indigenous communities continue to bear the brunt of the ongoing armed conflict in Colombia. Even if leaders are not blatantly political in their work, they are still targeted.

William Ferney Pazú Toconás, age 23, was a renowned Indigenous cultural leader from Vitoyó village in the Jambaló Reservation in the north of Cauca Department. A member of the musical group Los Tiraflechas, he was passionate about playing flute and drum music and was respected for his work teaching traditional Indigenous music and instruments to children and young adults.

The morning after a cultural celebration, his body was found on the banks of a river in the center of the reservation. He became the 21st social leader killed in Cauca Department this year, and the 85th overall in Colombia.

William Ferney Pazú Toconás, ¡presente!

Last month, the Peace Commission of the Evangelical [Protestant] Council of Colombia (CEDECOL) issued a statement condemning the massacre of eight Christian church leaders in a rural area of Calamar municipality, Guaviare Department.

Upon receiving personal summons from an illegally armed group (understood to be a dissident faction of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC), the eight appeared for their respective meetings over a two-day period (April 4-5), from which they never returned. Unrelenting, international organizations and members of the public security forces discovered the location of the mass grave in a rural area of the same municipality; this was later confirmed by the Office of the Attorney General Office on July 1. 

We are urging the Colombian government to take the following actions:

(1) conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the killing of these eight church leaders, publish the results, and bring to justice those materially and intellectually responsible

(2) consult with religious leaders who conduct pastoral work in regions occupied by illegally armed groups to devise protection mechanisms, in strict accordance with their wishes

(3) accelerate efforts to bring justice and closure to the fate of so many others who have been disappeared or lost their lives at the hands of illegally armed groups

Maryuri Hernández, Jesús Valero, James Caicedo, Óscar García, Nixón Peñaloza, Maribel Silva, Isaid Gómez, and Carlos Valero: ¡presente!