Colombia: Another Indigenous Leader Murdered in North Santander

On Sunday, leader Joel Villamizar was murdered in the village of Río Colorado, in rural Chitagá, near the United Indigenous Reservation in the department of Norte de Santander.

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The Territorial Authorities Association and U'wa Councils of Colombia denounced the murder on its official Twitter page.

The organization announced in a statement that Villamizar was the education coordinator for the U'wa nation and denied that the indigenous leader was a member of an armed organization.

The Indigenous community demanded that the events be clarified with human rights representatives in the area. 

Villamizar's murder is a violation of international humanitarian law, according to the Indigenous community.

"This murder will not become a false positive of the state. The army and the government must answer for this death," the statement said.

The National Army assured that it would deliver precise information on the operations carried out in the rural area of the municipality of Chitagá, in view of the strong indications from the indigenous communities.

In Colombia, more than 110 indigenous and social leaders, human rights defenders and former combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army (Farc-EP), have been murdered this year.