Activists, Right Groups Demand Justice for Slain Costa Rican Indigenous Leader

Various rights organizations are demanding justice for the murdered Costa Rican Indigenous activist who was shot dead Monday. From political parties, the Ombudsman's Office, students, to the presidency of the National Institute of Women are demanding a prompt investigation of the murder of Sergio Rojas, the Bribri leader.

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Indigenous land rights defender Sergio Rojas was assassinated by armed gunmen who shot the activist as many as 15 times at around 11:45 pm local time in his home, according to his neighbors, in southern Costa Rica.

Rojas was President of the Association for the Development of the Indigenous Territory of Salitre and coordinator of the National Front of Indigenous Peoples (FRENAP) in Costa Rica and was a staunch defender of the Bribri of Saltire Indigenous people who have been fighting for years to regain their rights to over 12,000 hectares of land in southern Costa Rica pledged to them by a 1938 government agreement.

The Ombudsman's Office said the murder of Sergio Rojas, "is a serious blow in the fight for the defense of human rights because he was a person who defended the rights of Indigenous peoples in Costa Rica.”

The Attorney General's office formed a special team which will investigate the assassination. The group is made up of experts on homicides and Indigenous affairs.

The United Nations Human Rights Commission also condemned the brutal murder of Rojas and urged the authorities to take immediate action while guaranteeing the protection of the people of Salitre.  

This wasn't the first attempt on Rojas' life. In 2012, shortly after the Bribri gained back some of their lands, the FRENAP coordinator was shot at eight times by armed men but escaped the shooting unscathed.