IRTF News

Robert Fernández was an active leader in the Campesino Workers Association of Cajibío, a municipality in Cauca Department. He was working on behalf of local campesino families who were awaiting the distribution of formerly private tracts of farm land from a large private farm that was being titled to them through the government’s National Land Agency (ANT). He was a well-respected leader with a multitude of affiliations. He was a member of the local Community Action Board, National Association of Campesino Reserve Zones (ANZORC), Process of Popular Unity of the SW of Colombia (PUPSOC), and the Social and Political Coordinating Body of the Patriotic March.

When Robert Fernández arrived home from work on December 11, 2023, he went outside to feed some chickens. From the house, his wife heard a motorcycle arrive. Then she heard an unknown man yell to Robert. Then she heard two gunshots. Running outside, his wife saw the hitman climb onto a black motorcycle and sped away. Her husband lay dead with two gunshots to the head.

La Guajira is home to many Wayúu communities, the largest Indigenous community in Colombia. It is also the department with the highest prevalence of food insecurity. “El Niño” weather patterns have been causing droughts and heatwaves, affecting yields of food staples such as rice and corn. Exacerbating the situation is migration from Venezuela and the presence of armed groups, which, according to the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, creates the potential for massive displacements related to territorial disputes. 

President Petro signed a State of Emergency (Decree 1085) on July 2, 2023, giving the Executive Branch broad powers to address the humanitarian crisis. But the Constitutional Court on October 2, 2023, declared the State of Emergency. “inapplicable.”  It ruled instead that the court would do an individual analysis of each of the thirteen decrees that were part of the State of Emergency. It is disheartening that the CC has already repealed ten such initiatives, and more rulings are pending.

We wrote to the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa, asking that it offer to bring together affected parties (including Crawfish residents, OFRANEH, and Próspera-ZEDE) to discuss a peaceful solution to the conflict on the Island of Roatán. Cryptocurrency investors, including citizens of the United States, are embattled with local residents over their plans to build infrastructure for tourism inside 58 acres it claims. The center of the battle is Crawfish Rock, a community of a few hundred mostly ethnic Garífuna residents.

OFRANEH (Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras) reported that on December 8, 2023, armed men broke into a meeting at which community members were discussing what they call violations of human rights by Próspera-ZEDE. Crawfish resident Vanessa Cárdenas was attacked and seriously injured. .  OFRANEH, along with local and national environmentalist groups, point to Erick Brimen, executive director of Próspera-ZEDE, as the instigator of violent aggression against the community of Crawfish Rock.

In Santiago de Cali (the capital city of Valle del Cauca Department in southwest Colombia), 26-year-old  Camilo Osuna was known for his environmental work in places like the Siloé neighborhood, a hillside area of ​​Santiago de Cali (Valle del Cauca Department) where he and fellow environmentalists revitalized a green space by clearing waste and debris. Clearly dedicated to environmental change, he was active in the Agroecological Gardeners Network and the “I stick to change” movement (Colectivo Me le Pego al Cambio).

On December 7,  Camilo Osuna became the 158th social leader killed in 2023. We are urging the government of Colombia to move forward in designing (and funding) a new comprehensive plan for the protection of social leaders,  as ordered by the Constitutional Court on December 11, 2023. More than 1500 social leaders have been killed in Colombia since the signing of the Peace Accords in 2016.

The letter calls for justice in the assassination of campesino leader Pedro Pablo Salas Sánchez in Putumayo on December 4, 2023. Salas was a respected community leader involved in defending the environment against contamination caused by oil exploitation and glyphosate. The letter highlights the dangers faced by social leaders in the region from armed groups, with the government being aware of the risks. It emphasizes the need to publish the investigation results, bring the responsible parties to justice, and collaborate with campesino leaders to implement protection measures. Additionally, the letter urges the government to develop and fund a comprehensive plan for the protection of social leaders, as mandated by the Constitutional Court on December 11, 2023, with active involvement of social leaders in the planning process.