Killings of Ex-FARC Members Continue in Colombia With Impunity

The Common Alternative Revolutionary Force (FARC) party, which emerged from the peace agreement with the former guerrilla in Colombia, denounced Sunday the murder of a former departmental candidate in a conflictive area of the southwest of the country where, in recent weeks, violence has resurfaced.

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Diego Fernando Campo was killed Saturday afternoon in the municipality of Corinto, Cauca, as several shots fired "in facts with no clarification," said the leftist movement in a statement.

The 31-year-old man was a candidate for the Nariño department assembly in the October local elections, in which the ex-guerrilla had marginal results. Campo was an ex-FARC member but did not fight during the half-century armed conflict. 

"We demand that state agencies be swift in the investigation and clarification of this crime, which today once again channels our party," the party added.

While Ivan Duque says there is no reason to protest, they continue to assassinate social leaders and peace signatories throughout the country. 
 

The demobilized insurgent group has denounced the murder of 170 ex-guerrillas and members of their movement since the signing of the pact.

Since the end of October, there has been a strong resurgence of violence in Caucavalley, which has taken the lives of at least 18 people, most of them Indigenous leaders, according to the Ombudsman's Office.

The authorities attribute most of the crimes to dissidents, who act without unified command and are mainly involved in drug trafficking.

Colombian President Ivan Duque ordered at the beginning of the month the deployment of 2,500 elite military personnel to combat the armed groups operating in the region.​​​​​​​ Although relieved by the agreement with the FARC, Colombia is still experiencing a confrontation between guerrillas, paramilitaries, state agents and narcos, which in six decades has left more than eight million victims.

Since the 2016 Peace Accords were signed, the FARC and 95 percent of its ex-combatants have complied with their obligations to lay down arms and enter politics peacefully. However, the state and far-right paramilitaries have failed to meet their part as over 160 former-combatants and at least 627 social activists have been killed in that time.