Colombia: News & Updates

In the southern department of Putumayo on the border with Ecuador, social leaders are caught in the crossfire of armed groups battling for territorial control.

February 1, in Puerto Caicedo: Lirnedy Soto, a community leader of La Pradera village, was forcibly taken; his body was found three days later with several gunshot wounds on a road leading from La Pradera to La Arizona. Lirnedy Soto served as treasurer of the Community Action Board of La Pradera village of Puerto Caicedo, Putumayo.  February 3, in Puerto Asís: Jhon Fredy Muchavisoy, age 27, was forcibly taken from his home in Dos Quebradas village and killed less than a hundred meters from his home. Until recently, the young social leader had served as president of the Community Action Board of Dos Quebradas village of Puerto Asís, Putumayo. 

Human rights defender in Caquetá Department Ludivia Galíndez Jiménez had previously suffered two forced displacements because of serious threats against her. For the past four years, she was under a protection scheme authorized by the National Protection Unit.  On the night of February 23, her security team left her at her home, complying with all appropriate security measures. Once the bodyguards left, hitmen made their move.  They arrived at her house in the Villa del Prado neighborhood of Florencia, Caquetá Department, stood at the fence, shot several times, and killed her.

Ludivia Galíndez Jiménez was an active social leader in many associations, including the Departmental Board of Directors of the Permanent Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CPDH) and the  Communist Party of Colombia  (PCC), which sees her killing as a direct attack on the party. She was the person in charge of issues related to women for the Association of Community Action Boards (ASOJUNTAS) of La Montañita, Caquetá, also serving as president of the organization.

Ludivia Galíndez Jiménez. She was president of the Association of Community Action Boards (ASOJUNTAS) of municipality La Montañita, Caquetá Department.

At the time of her death, Ludivia Galíndez Jiménez was the recipient of protection measures from the National Protection Unit (UNP). When her bodyguards left her at home on February 23, the hitmen made their move.  From the fence outside her house, they shot her several times and killed her.

We wrote to officials in Colombia about our concerns for the safety of Indigenous community members and leaders in Cauca Department, especially in light of a recent assassination and attempted assassination.

Eywar Yamid Morán Campo was a member of the Nasa Indigenous Territory of Sa'th Tama Kiwe in Caldono, Cauca Department. As a former FARC combatant and signatory to the 2016 Peace Accords, the young man was enrolled in the government’s reincorporation process (ETCR, Territorial Spaces for Training and Reincorporation) at the Pueblo Nuevo reservation. He was shot and killed by hitmen on February 10.

Giovanni Collazos Coque is the local coordinator of the Indigenous Guard of the Indigenous Council of Paletará (Kokonuko People) in Popayán, Cauca Department. On February 25, hitmen arrived outside his house, shot at him, and injured him in the arm. For the past twenty years, the Kokonuko People have been recognized as collective victims and protected by a ruling issued by the Constitutional Court in 2004.

Several Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in the Bajo San Juan River region of Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca Department, have declared themselves as Peace Facilitating Territories. Nevertheless, they are still subject to intimidation and even periods of confinement, primarily due to the presence of the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces (AGC paramilitaries) and the National Liberation Army (ELN rebels) On February 1, armed men entered the Wounaan Indigenous Reserve by boat at Unión San Juan, intimidated community residents, and forced another boat  to take them to Puerto Pizario. There they acquired markers from some shops and proceeded to write the logo and initials of the ELN on some homes in the town.  Another boat picked them up at the pier at 1:00 pm. They fear another period of confinement (and humanitarian crisis) like the one they experienced in February 2023.

Most of the alerts we receive from Colombia are from rural communities, mostly where armed groups are vying for control of territory and resources. But community organizers in urban areas are also threatened. Astrid Silva Barreto is the president of Building Dreams Foundation-Mothers Heads of Household in Barranquilla, Atlántida Department.

The social foundation Building Dreams is based at Las Gardenias, a large public housing project built by the national government in 2014. In addition to providing educational and recreational activities for residents, Building Dreams also works with residents to address issues of concern, such as reported incidents of homicides, gender-based violence against girls, micro-trafficking, and the disappearance of a young man in this community, which is still ongoing.

On February 18, Astrid Silva Barreto received a phone call warning her that she had to leave Las Gardenias and that she was being followed. The threat came after an attack against the administrator of complex 6 of the housing project.

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.