New Murder of Indigenous Leader in Antioquia, Colombia

The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) confirmed Wednesday the assassination of another indigenous leader in the department of Antioquia, located in the central northwestern part of the country.

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Abraham Domico, the victim, was a member of Colombia's Embera Indigenous community and was killed in the municipality of Taraza, which is located in the “Bajo Cauca” subregion of Antioquia.

"While we are in the middle of a session for the Peacebuilding Commission in the Congress, I am informed of the murder of Abraham Domico," the indigenous leader and senator Feliciano Valencia said in a statement released on his Twitter account.

Domico’s assassination comes a few days after the murder of two guards on Aug. 10 on the hands of irregular groups linked to drug trafficking, attesting the dramatic situation indigenous communities live daily in the country, and the passivity of the public authorities.

Meanwhile, the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) denounced and condemned Wednesday the circulation of a leaflet issued by an armed group that promises to end with the lives of leaders Kevin Mestizo and Eugenio Tenorio in the municipality of Toribio, also in the Cauca region.

Between November 2016 and July 2019, at least 627 social leaders and human rights defenders were killed, according to the Institute for Development and Peace (Indepaz). While, 138 former guerrilla fighters were also killed by paramilitary forces in the same period.

On Aug. 10, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed its "deep concern over repeated attacks" against the indigenous people in the Cauca Valley. The Catholic Church on Tuesday called on Colombian public institutions to design effective and coordinated plans against those responsible for the murder and threats to Indigenous communities.