Colombia: Assassination of Another Social Leader Reported

The president of the Junta de Acción Comunal de Socuavo Norte in the municipality of Tibú, Santander, Colombia, José Antonio Santiago Pérez, was murdered this Saturday, in the midst of the wave of violence against social leaders.

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Santiago Perez was also the delegate of the federation of boards of the Department of Norte de Santander and had just come from a meeting with his community when he was intercepted by armed individuals who killed him in the village of La Serena, 5 minutes from the town of Tibú, according to the report.

According to the Colombian Institute for Development and Peace (Indepaz), José Antonio had previously suffered an attack and therefore had "a security scheme assigned by the UNP [National Protection Unit]".

President of the Community Action Board, of the village of Socuavo Norte, Municipality of Tibù and Delegate of the Federation of Boards of the North Department of Santander, JOSE SANTIAGO PERES. Murdered while leaving a meeting with his community.

However, Indepaz denounced, "three months ago his van had been stolen, leaving him vulnerable to the assassins", who finally took his life this Saturday.

The human rights organization, recalls that for its part, the Ombudsman's Office had issued the follow-up report No. 014/22 of the Early Alert 050/20 for the municipality of Tibú, where it points out that "the risk scenario lies in the inoperability and failures in the implementation of the Peace Agreement" of 2016.

According to Indepaz, citing the Ombudsman's Office, such inoperativeness "has not allowed overcoming critical, historical and structural problems that are evidenced in the high rates of vulnerability of leaders, social leaders and peace signatories".

Several illegal armed groups are present in the territory, led by the so-called Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia).