Colombia: 23-Year-Old Man Killed by Police in Cajibio, Cauca

Human rights organizations in the Colombian department of Cauca denounced Tuesday the death at the hands of the Colombian police of the young man, Huber Samir Camayo Fajardo, who was on the sidelines of a social protest taking place in the area.

The 23-year-old died in hospital in Popayán after being seriously injured amid unrest in the rural area of the municipality of Cajibío, Cauca.

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Confrontations between peasant and indigenous communities and the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (Esmad) of the National Police have been registered in recent days during the process of territorial recovery being carried out by several communities.

According to the Jaime Garzón Human Rights Network, the communities were carrying out these land reclamation efforts, and, in the midst of them, they have been the object of aggressions by state security forces.

"Huber Samir Camayo Fajardo, the 23-year-old who had been wounded by the @PoliciaColombia during the territorial recovery process being carried out by several communities in the El Retiro farm in Cajibío, Cauca."

Communities denounced that the young man who died was on the sidelines of the confrontations, as he was only passing through the area when he was hit by a shot fired at a distance of 60 meters.

The Ombudsman's Office intervened and urged the governor of Cauca, Elías Larrahondo Carabalí, to promote dialogue with the demonstrators.

Camayo Fajardo's death follows growing reports of police, judicial and paramilitary advances against young people participating in the National Strike protests, issued by several human rights organizations.