• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Colombia

Colombia: 27 Social Leaders Killed So Far This Year

  • Citizen holding a poster that reads,

    Citizen holding a poster that reads, "How many more murders do we have to stand?," Colombia, Feb. 26, 2021. | Photo: Twitter/ @GnzalesMari

Published 26 February 2021
Opinion

During 2021, the rates assassinations have increased as 15 massacres have been reported in just two months..

Gunmen on Wednesday assassinated the Indigenous leader Jhon Pai Pascual in the Piguambi Palangala territory located in the Nariño department in Colombia.

RELATED:

Colombia Grows More Drugs Now Than It Did in Pablo Escobar-Era

Pai Pascal was the prosecutor of the indigenous territory, whose inhabitants denounced the continuous threats and attacks against their leaders.

Piguambi Palangala community members asked Colombian President Ivan Duque to establish a transitional justice mechanism to clarify the 27 murders of social leaders that have occurred this year.

Pai Pascal was a member of the Awa Indigenous People Unit (UNIPA). Due to the selective assassination of social leaders that has being taking place since 2016, this grassroots organization demands respect for its communities' territories and the creation of state-backed protection system.

There has been an exponential increase in violence in the Nariño Department, where 11 people were killed only last weekend. Most of them were Indigenous people and former members of the Colombia's Armed Forces-People's Army (FARC-EP).

The last year was the most violent for human rights defenders in Colombia due to the murder of 310 social leaders. During 2021, the rates assassinations have increased as 15 massacres have been reported in just two months.

Besides addressing this violence wave, Colombia's government will have to take action to clarify the killing of at least 6,402 civilians who were falsely represented as insurgent group members to justify their assassination by the country's army.

 

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.