Colombia: Murders of Social Activists Continue During Coronavirus Crisis

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The number of murders of social activists in Colombia has continued to rise sharply in recent weeks.

The Institute for Studies for Development and Peace (INDEPAZ) complained earlier this week that a total of 14 social activists have been killed since March 6th, the day when the first coronavirus case was confirmed.

In the course of the week, more murders were added to this number. In the department of Cauca alone, three representatives of community-based organizations were killed. Dissidents of the former FARC guerrillas are believed to be behind some of the cases.

The latest victims were Jesús Albeiro Riascos and Sabino Angulo Advincula, two young activists from San Juan de Micay in the municipality of Tambo. Both were involved in projects related to the peace process and the replacement of coca plantations.

They had attended a meeting of the village community on April 22nd to discuss the safety situation of activists in the region. Following the attack, armed men are reported to have remained on the site, terrorizing the village community and the families of the two victims.

Also in the middle of last week, 64-year-old Hugo de Jesús Giraldo López was shot dead in the municipality of Santander de Quilichao. Among other things, he was an activist for a union of agricultural workers and for the ‘Congreso de los Pueblos’ (Congress of Peoples).

He was also a colleague and advisor of Mario Chilhueso Cruz, who was killed last Sunday in the Los Robles district, in the municipality of Buenos Aires, in the Cauca department.

Cruz was president of an association of workers and small agricultural producers, which campaigns for farmers’ rights in the region, as well as a member of other community-based organizations. The renowned Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ) condemns the act and calls for protection of leaders and communities.

One day before Cruz’s murder, Teodomiro Sotelo Anacona had been killed in the municipality of Tambo in the department of Cauca. Sotelo was active at the ‘Congreso de los Pueblos’ and other community-based organizations, working for the replacement of illegal plantations. One day later, Andrés Adrelio Cancimanse Burbano from the Honduras district was killed in the municipality of Tambo.

The guerrilla organization National Liberation Army (ELN) announced in a statement on April 19th that FARC dissidents Jaime Martínez and Carlos Patiño were responsible for the murders of activists Sotelo and Cansimanse. The authorities also believe them to be the perpetrators.

Both civil and military authorities admitted that the control of the area is in the hands of illegal groups, according to Carlos Cárdenal of the independent television station ‘Noticias Uno’. The situation is very difficult for the village communities in this area. The inhabitants denounce hostilities, looting of homes, displacement of the population, threats and killings.

For many of the people affected, the presence of more soldiers is not a solution: “We do not want militarization of the area, we demand an integrated presence of the state in connection with the implementation of the Havana Peace Agreement and the compliance with the agreements made with social organizations,” stresses Jonathan Centeno, activist and human rights advocate.