Colombia: News & Updates

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.

La Guajira is home to many Wayúu communities, the largest Indigenous community in Colombia. It is also the department with the highest prevalence of food insecurity. “El Niño” weather patterns have been causing droughts and heatwaves, affecting yields of food staples such as rice and corn. Exacerbating the situation is migration from Venezuela and the presence of armed groups, which, according to the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, creates the potential for massive displacements related to territorial disputes. 

President Petro signed a State of Emergency (Decree 1085) on July 2, 2023, giving the Executive Branch broad powers to address the humanitarian crisis. But the Constitutional Court on October 2, 2023, declared the State of Emergency. “inapplicable.”  It ruled instead that the court would do an individual analysis of each of the thirteen decrees that were part of the State of Emergency. It is disheartening that the CC has already repealed ten such initiatives, and more rulings are pending.

In Santiago de Cali (the capital city of Valle del Cauca Department in southwest Colombia), 26-year-old  Camilo Osuna was known for his environmental work in places like the Siloé neighborhood, a hillside area of ​​Santiago de Cali (Valle del Cauca Department) where he and fellow environmentalists revitalized a green space by clearing waste and debris. Clearly dedicated to environmental change, he was active in the Agroecological Gardeners Network and the “I stick to change” movement (Colectivo Me le Pego al Cambio).

On December 7,  Camilo Osuna became the 158th social leader killed in 2023. We are urging the government of Colombia to move forward in designing (and funding) a new comprehensive plan for the protection of social leaders,  as ordered by the Constitutional Court on December 11, 2023. More than 1500 social leaders have been killed in Colombia since the signing of the Peace Accords in 2016.

The letter calls for justice in the assassination of campesino leader Pedro Pablo Salas Sánchez in Putumayo on December 4, 2023. Salas was a respected community leader involved in defending the environment against contamination caused by oil exploitation and glyphosate. The letter highlights the dangers faced by social leaders in the region from armed groups, with the government being aware of the risks. It emphasizes the need to publish the investigation results, bring the responsible parties to justice, and collaborate with campesino leaders to implement protection measures. Additionally, the letter urges the government to develop and fund a comprehensive plan for the protection of social leaders, as mandated by the Constitutional Court on December 11, 2023, with active involvement of social leaders in the planning process.

We wrote to officials in Colombia once again about the alarming rate of assassinations of social leaders. Phanor Guazaquillo Peña became the 155th social leader killed in 2023.

Phanor Guazaquillo Peña was the current governor of the Cabildo Nasa Kwesx Kiwe tribe. On December 3, 2023, he was attending the funeral for another Nasa leader (Manuel Carlosama) at a cemetery in Puerto Asís, Putumayo Department. A hitman arrived, shot him numerous times, pointed his weapon at others present at the funeral, then fled the scene on a motorcycle, driven by another accomplice. The 45-year-old community leader served on the board of Communities Constructing Peace in Colombia (CONPAZCOL).  He was the father to four children. 

Juan David Chávez Yoino, a 23-year-old member of the Nasa Indigenous reservation Juan Tama del Pueblo Nasa, was assassinated on November 12, 2023, in the rural community of Antonio Nariño, municipality of La Plata, Huila Department. He was shot four times by armed men. This act marked him as the 141st social leader to be assassinated in 2023, contributing to a disturbing total of 1,555 leaders killed since the signing of the Peace Accords in November 2016, according to INDEPAZ. By December 11, 2023, the number of social leaders killed had risen to 157. Responding to this crisis, the Constitutional Court declared the situation unconstitutional, citing the violation of the population's rights, and mandated the national government to ensure the security of social leaders. The court specifically instructed key offices to design a comprehensive plan to prevent and address violence against social leaders, emphasizing the need for institutional capacity and budget for protection mechanisms.

As leaders of SINDHEP, William Salazar Valencia (president) and Ana Rosa Fuentes Potes (vice-presidents) filed two criminal complaints against Carlos Camargo Assis. One complaint was the alleged use of the Digital Evidence Forensic Laboratory equipment to spy on union workers (and use the illegally obtained communications against them). A few weeks after a second complaint was filed by the SINDHEP leaders, William Salazar received a death threat via WhatsApp accompanied by a photo taken of his son on the street. The message made it clear that the threat was related to his filing a formal complaint against Carlos Camargo Assis.