IRTF News

René Alfonso Garavito is a valued community member of the Indigenous Makaguan tribe in Arauca Department. He juggles being a a father of three, a university student (studying public administration), and an active member of the Indigenous Guard on his people’s reservation (Reserve Cusay la Colorada).

Tragically, while he was commuting between two towns on September 20, three armed men apprehended him, held him at gunpoint, tied him up and took him away while his 11-year-old nephew watched. His relatives, who suspect he is being held by the National Liberation Army (ELN),  are experiencing much distress and anguish; his nephew now has routine nightmares after watching the kidnapping.

IRTF has joined an international call to prioritize a thorough investigation into the kidnapping of René Alfonso Garavito, publish the results, and bring those responsible to justice. With his family, we pray that he is released and returned unharmed.

Heber Rivera Méndez was a pivotal figure advocating for peasant farmer rights, human rights, and social justice in Valle del Cauca Department. He served as president of both the Communal Action Board of the Venus district of Tuluá municipality and the Association of Peasant Workers of Valle del Cauca (ASTRACAVA).

Tragically, in the early morning hours of September 24, armed individuals entered his home, shooting him multiple times and tragically ending his life. His death leaves behind a great void in the local community.

We are urging that the government work with community based organizations to dismantle illegal armed groups operating in the region that continue to impose norms and social control, targeting those who defend human rights.

Barranco de Loba, a municipality in Bolívar Department, has been the site of violence against social leaders. This area, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Second Division of the Army, has at least two illegally armed groups active in armed conflict: the National Liberation Army (ELN, Ejército de Liberación Nacional) and the Gaitanista Army of Colombia (EGC, Ejército Gaitanista de Colombia, formerly known as the Clan del Golfo).  The region has been plagued by violence and insecurity; social leaders are often targeted by the violence. In March 2022, a former Community Action Board president, Eduardo Emilio Vanegas Mendoza, was assassinated there.

On September 28, 2024, social leader Roxenda Sanguino Aguilar went missing. Her body was found the following day in the El Torito sector. There were several gunshots to her body and face. At the young age of 43, the former president of the Community Action Board of the Santa Rosa neighborhood of Barranco de Loba became the 123rd social leader assassinated in Colombia this year. Roxenda was not known to have any enemies.

Cauca, a department on the Pacific coast in the southwest of Colombia, is the site of many armed clashes. Due to the ongoing violence, community leaders (especially those from Indigenous and campesino communities) are at constant risk.

While leading  a community assembly in the El Carmelo hamlet on September 23, armed men burst into the meeting and shot campesino leader Edwin Polanco, inflicting serious injuries. Adding to the growing sense of fear, the lifeless body of peasant leader Carlos Andrés Becoche Zambrano was found on the night of October 9, after being kidnapped by an armed group three days prior in the Cenequeta area of Cajibío. We are urging that the national government publicly denounce attacks against community leaders and implement new strategies to ensure their safety.