Excmo. Sr. Presidente Iván Duque Márquez, President of the Republic of Colombia
Sr. Fiscal General Néstor Humberto Martínez Neira, Attorney General of Colombia
April 26, 2019
Dear Sirs,
We are horrified at the continuing murders of former members of the now dissolved Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and their families. On April 14, seven-month-old Samuel David Gonzalez Pushaina was killed in the municipality of Maicao, in La Guajira Department. His father, Carlos Enrique Gonzalez, age 23, was a former FARC member. Several hooded men ambushed his family when they went from their home in Simon Trinidad, Cesar Department, to visit Samuel David’s grandmother in Maicao. The child died on the way to the hospital. His parents, also injured, are recovering.
The baby, one of Colombia’s first “peace babies,” was born in the Simon Trinidad reintegration camp where his father was living with his family after leaving the FARC and committing to transitioning to civilian life following the signing of the peace accords in 2016.
Additionally, on April 22, a FARC former combatant, Dimar Torres, was murdered in Convención in the Catatumbo region. When local residents went to investigate gunfire, they encountered soldiers who denied any knowledge of Dimar’s whereabouts. Shortly after, the search party discovered his body near a shallow pit where his tools were buried.
Dimar was registered as disabled because of injuries suffered during the conflict. He had moved with his family to Catatumbo after the peace agreement in 2016 and was active with the United Nations in the local community in coordinating reincorporation of former FARC members.
These attacks on FARC members and their families are examples of the wider threat that former FARC members are experiencing since they demobilized in 2017. Many of them, with newly-formed families, are still in FARC reintegration camps where they are trying to find a way back into civilian life through labor projects and education. According to the latest UN peace monitoring report, at least 102 demobilized FARC members have been assassinated.
We strongly urge that you
- conduct an immediate and complete investigation into the systematic killings of former FARC combatants, including Samuel David Gonzales Pushaina (son of former combatant Carlos Enrique Gonzales) and Dimar Torres;
- guarantee political participation and reincorporation into civilian life for former FARC combatants, as agreed to in the peace agreement of 2016.
Sincerely,
Brian J. Stefan Szittai
Christine Stonebraker-Martínez
Co-Coordinators
copies:
Francisco Santos Calderón, Ambassador of Colombia to the US ~ via fax: 202.232.8643 and email
Rebecca Daley, Human Rights Officer, US Embassy in Colombia ~ via email
Ryan Reid and Christine Russell, Desk Officers for Colombia, US State Dept ~ via email
Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli, Rapporteur for Colombia and Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ~ via email, US mail
US Senators Brown & Portman ~via email
US Representatives Beatty, Fudge, Gibbs, Gonzalez, Johnson, Jordan, Joyce, Kaptur, Latta, Ryan ~ via email
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