Colombia, 7/25/2022

July 25, 2022

Dear Sirs:

We are writing to call for accountability for the assassination of Noel Humberto Castro Colorado, who was shot to death on July 12 at around 9:45pm in Florencia, Caquetá Department. Armed men on a motorcycle approached him as he was storing his car in the garage of his home.

Noel Humberto Castro Colorado was a former rebel of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP) who was enrolled in the formal reincorporation process at the Agua Bonita Territorial Training and Reincorporation Center (ETCR). He had been transferred there for security reasons after having received death threats. He became the 25th signatory of the Peace Agreement murdered in 2022 and the 324th signatory murdered since the signing in November 2016.

The Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, through Early Warning 004/22 (Alerta Temprana 004/22), pointed out that "the signatories of the agreement are especially exposed to threats and accusations due to the stigmatization that falls on them and their families, due to their status as ex-combatants.” The Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (INDEPAZ) indicates that the armed groups present in the area where the homicide occurred are Structure 62-Miler Perdomo, the Border Commands, and other local armed structures.

Upon learning of the killing of Noel Humberto Castro Colorado, the National Corporation for Common Reincorporation (CNRC) denounced the persistence of the "continued massacre against the peace signatories." We therefore strongly urge that you:

• conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the killing of Noel Humberto Castro Colorado (with the goal of finding both the intellectual and material authors of the attack), publish the results, and bring those responsible to justice
• offer protection measures for the family of Noel Humberto Castro Colorado, in strict accordance with their wishes
• provide protections for other peace signatories, especially those who have reported threats, with terms agreed upon by the parties being protected
• take necessary measures to dismantle illegal armed groups operating in Caquetá
• construct comprehensive and inclusive measures to implement the Peace Agreement, with approaches that focus on gender, territorial, and ethnic groups

Sincerely,

Brian J. Stefan Szittai and Christine Stonebraker-Martínez

Co-Coordinators

copies:        

Juan Carlos Pinzón, Ambassador of Colombia to the US ~ via email, US mail

Daniel Palacios, Minister of the Interior ~ via email

Joel Hernández García, Rapporteur for Colombia ,  Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ~ via email, US mail

UN: Juliette De Rivero, Representative in Colombia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights ~ via email

US Embassy: Francisco Palmieri (Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim); Kristen Farrell (human rights); Mariel Chatman (vulnerable populations) ~ via email

US State Department: Christine Russell, Desk Officer for Colombia ~ via email

US Senators Brown & Portman ~ via email

US Representatives Beatty, Brown, Gibbs, Gonzalez, Johnson, Jordan, Joyce, Kaptur, Latta, Ryan ~ via email

13 JUN 2022_ContagioRadio_Colombia