Colombia: News & Updates

Human rights defenders are at great risk in the Magdalena Medio Valley of north-central Colombia.

Several individuals and organizations were named in pamphlets circulated by Magdalena Medio Block of the FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army) on January 18. Then on February 1, the AGC paramilitaries (Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) issued their own pamphlet declaring members of even more organizations as military targets. At least two well-known and respected organizations appeared in both sets of pamphlets: Regional Corporation for the Defense of Human Rights (CREDHOS) and Peasant Association of the Cimitarra River Valley (ACVC). IRTF’s Rapid Response Network has written about 20 letters on behalf of CREDHOS and its leadership over the past 20 years, and several for ACVC as well. The faithfulness and persistence of these human rights defenders is admirable considering the toll that these threats take on them and their families.

Indigenous communities are at particular risk where armed groups vie for territorial control. In northern Cauca Department, the Indigenous Nasa People of the Sa'th Tama Kiwe territory in Caldono suffered great losses in 2023. Six of their Indigenous authorities or other community leaders were assassinated. On Christmas Eve,  Eliécer Chocue, a member of the Indigenous guard,  was killed just two days after the community held an assembly of the special Indigenous jurisdiction. He immediately began receiving threats.

In addition to calling for justice in the assassination Eliécer Chocue , we are also urging that authorities in Colombia consult with the Indigenous guard to offer them more support for their collective defense mechanisms.

We sent to officials in Colombia about the kidnapping and assassination of José Enrique Roa Cruz, an ex-combatant and signer of the 2016 Peace Accords. His two body guards, assigned to him through the National Protection Unit (UNP) were also killed in the attack on January 14.

The Peace Community of San José de Apartadó is made up of people living in a number of hamlets in the municipality of Apartadó. They maintain their right to not be drawn into Colombia's armed conflict and refuse to take sides with any of the parties to the conflict. They refuse to bear arms or provide information or logistical support to any armed party. In return, the members of the Peace Community demand that the parties to the armed conflict stay out of their communities and respect their decision not to participate in or to collaborate with the warring parties.

Since 2002, IRTF’s RRN has written more than thirty letters to Colombian officials about the human rights violations of the people of the San José Peace Community. Since the Peace Community was established in 1997, more than 200 of its members have been killed or subjected to enforced disappearance, while others have been threatened or sexually assaulted. The continued presence and threats from paramilitaries places members of the Community and other local inhabitants at increasing risk. Some of the threatening actions of the paramilitaries are taking place in areas with a military presence, confirming for residents a routine practice of camouflaging relations between the military and paramilitaries.

Because of confrontations between armed groups in their territory, the Awá Indigenous community of Telembí in Nariño Department has been victim of confinement over recent months. Armed actors restrict their movement. There is a high risk to residents trying to leave their reservations to seek safety. Anti-personnel mines have been placed on ancestral roads. Authorities are prevented from attending meetings, even those called by state institutions. There is tension, worry, and a sense of danger.

On December 7, 2023, a pamphlet was left at the home of the Awá Indigenous Governor of Telembí, Alberto Nastacuas. The threat declared him a military objective and ordered him to leave the territory.

Robert Fernández was an active leader in the Campesino Workers Association of Cajibío, a municipality in Cauca Department. He was working on behalf of local campesino families who were awaiting the distribution of formerly private tracts of farm land from a large private farm that was being titled to them through the government’s National Land Agency (ANT). He was a well-respected leader with a multitude of affiliations. He was a member of the local Community Action Board, National Association of Campesino Reserve Zones (ANZORC), Process of Popular Unity of the SW of Colombia (PUPSOC), and the Social and Political Coordinating Body of the Patriotic March.

When Robert Fernández arrived home from work on December 11, 2023, he went outside to feed some chickens. From the house, his wife heard a motorcycle arrive. Then she heard an unknown man yell to Robert. Then she heard two gunshots. Running outside, his wife saw the hitman climb onto a black motorcycle and sped away. Her husband lay dead with two gunshots to the head.