IRTF News

Urgent call to authorities to search for campesino leader José Herrera, who was disappeared March 20 in the north of Antioquia Department, in hopes that he be found alive. (It was mistakenly reported March 22 that his body had been found. But that misinformation was corrected a couple days ago. He is reportedly still missing. ) The well-known and respected community leader is president of the Community Action Board of the Vereda Mesetas of Puerto Valdivia. He is also president of the Association of Peasants of Toledo (ASCAT-NA) and a founding member of the Patriotic March Movement-Antioquia Movement and of ASOCBAC (Rural Association of Bajo Cauca). José Herrera is one of the municipal spokespersons for the Comprehensive National Crop Substitution Program. Farmers involved in that program have been under attack by armed groups.

During a student-led human rights march in Guatemala City on March 23, a group of persons wearing hoods and gowns, and armed with bats and machetes, attacked Jorge Santos, the General Coordinator of UDEFEGUA (Protection Unit for Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala), causing wounds that required stitches.

Forced eviction of the historically binational Yukpa indigenous people from Cúcuta, Colombia, into Venezuela. They are currently living in highly precarious conditions, lacking basic services such as drinking water, food and access to health and education. They keep returning to Colombia because there are no guarantees of food or health care if they stay in Venezuela.

Assassination of community leader Juan Mena Ortiz in Quibidó, Chocó Department. He was a merchant and President of the Communal Action Board of the Alamos Neighborhood. Armed men approached Juan Mena and shot him multiple times while he was walking in public at 3:00 on a Sunday afternoon, March 18.

Brutal murder of environmental defender Luis Fernando Ayala, age 16, in Santa Bárbara Department. He was reported missing on February 19. His mutilated body was found on February 20 with his hands missing and multiple signs of torture.

We are outraged over the continued detention of human rights defender Edwin Robelo Espinal in La Tolva prison, located in Morocelí, El Paraíso Department, and the horrific conditions that exist in this military-run maximum security prison. Arrested January 19, he is one of more than 20 political prisoners being detained in prisons throughout Honduras.

death threats against journalist Marco Antonio Cornel, reporting on involvement of police in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, in the disappearance and torture of six men; two found dead Jorge Arturo Vázquez Campos (age 30) and Marcos Catalán Cabrera (age 34), two remain missing Abel Aguilar García (age 18) and Efraín Patrón Ramos (age 25)

attempted assassination in Bogotá of trade unionist German Espinel of the Association of Agroecological and Mining Brotherhoods of Guamocó (AHERAMIGUA) and active member of the Patriotic March Social and Political Movement

murders of journalists Laurent Ángel Castillo Cifuentes, age 28, and Luis Alfredo de León Miranda, age 30; their bodies with hands and feet tied and gunshot wounds to the head were found near Mazatenango, Suchitepéquez Department.