InterReligious Task Force on Central America

Our partner in Colombia, the  Inter-Church Commission for Justice and Peace, alerted us to a concerning pattern of surveillance and intimidation against Indigenous authorities of the Nasa people of Putumayo, the southwestern department that borders Ecuador and Peru. On the Indigenous Reserve Jerusalén San Luis Alto Picudito from late June to mid-July, Indigenous Governor Alicia Ipia Ramos and her security team witnessed men keeping an intent eye on her at events.  On more than one occasion between July 1 and 6, men dressed in black were spotted hiding in vegetation near her house and another seen emerging from the lower level of her house, fleeing after the arrival of the security team’s vehicle.

On July 18 at 9:30pm, two men arrived at her home on motorcycles. Calling for Alicia from outside, her daughter replied that she was not home. As they left, the men warned, "We'll return later and pay her a proper visit." The daughter fled and hid in the woods.  Members of the Indigenous Guard found her and took her to a safe place.

We are urging that authorities in Colombia (1) consult with authorities of Jerusalén San Luis Alto Picudito to create and implement a protection scheme for their leaders, including Alicia Ipia Ramos and her family, and (2) conduct a thorough investigation to find and hold accountable the men who sought out the governor at her home on July 18.

Although it has been almost ten years since the government of Colombia signed the historic Peace Accords with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), several armed groups, including dissident factions of the FARC, wreak havoc on local communities as they battle for territorial control.

Last month on the El Bosque farm in Remedios, Antioquia Department, the FARC-dissident faction 4th Front took responsibility for the massacre of four farmers. Armed men entered the Botero family farm, tied up Efraín Botero, his wife Rosa Silva, farm administrator Alexander Restrepo García, and his assistant Leidy María Cáceres Carrillo. Alexander and Leidy María were taken to a separate location and murdered. Efraín and Rosa were separated and killed individually, their bodies left in the pasture. The victims were tortured and burned alive. The armed group also set fire to the house and left behind explosive cylinders, constituting a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

Alexander Restrepo García and Leidy María Cáceres Carrillo had moved to the farm over the past year. They were displaced from Chocó Department, where they lived in one of the humanitarian zones, which are collectively titled territories belonging to the region’s Afro-Colombian communities. The pair had come to Remedios seeking dignified work and escape the violence that has been ruining their home community.