Political Murders Continue in Colombia

Last week one journalist and two social leaders were murdered in unrelated incidents in Colombia. On Monday 15th March, human rights activist Jhonny Hurtado was shot dead near his home on the rural outskirts of La Macarena municipality, Meta department. Jhonny was president of the human rights committee in the La Catalina area of La Macarena. The organisation has stated that it had previously received death threats from paramilitary groups. The La Macarena area is heavily militarized and has a large army presence. The human rights committee had also been intimidated by the army units in the area, who have singled them out as ‘guerrilla collaborators’.

On the evening of Friday 19th March, journalist Clodomiro Castilla was shot dead whilst reading on the terrace in his home in the town of Monteria, Cordoba department. Clodomiro was editor of ‘El pulso del tiempo’ news magazine, and worked on several alternative radio shows. He had received paramilitary death threats because of his work exposing links between important politicians in his region and paramilitary death squads. He was subsequently given a bodyguard by the state, but he gave up the bodyguard last year, arguing that he didn’t trust the state to protect his life.

At 7am on Wednesday 17th March Israel Verona was murdered in his rural home on the outskirts of Saravena municipality, Arauca department. Israel was a member of the Arauca Campesino Association (ACA), an organisation which is being literally exterminated by paramilitary groups. Between the end of October and the 1st of October last year, seven members of the organisation were assassinated.

These latest murders come as the European Union prepares to sign a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia, and prove once again that to defend human rights, participate in legitimate, peaceful political activism, or expose corruption is to risk being assassinated in Colombia. Social leaders, trade unionists, journalists, judges and human rights defenders continue to be murdered with alarming frequency, despite the Colombian government’s claims that human rights have improved in the country and that paramilitary groups no longer exist. Because of this situation, the US and Canadian governments are refusing to sign Free Trade Agreements with Colombia until it improves. However, the European Union has stated that human rights have nothing to do with commercial agreements and are not a concern for them. The FTA has met with stern resistance from many politicians and civil society organisations who argue that it will indeed have a negative impact upon human rights in Colombia, and will send the wrong message about the European Union’s attitude towards systematic human rights violations.

Indigenous Leader Aida Quilcue Loses Out in Senate Elections

Aida Quilcue narrowly missed out on a seat in the Colombian Senate in the national election on Sunday 14th March. Despite winning more votes than any of the other candidates for the two Senate seats reserved for indigenous leaders, Aida lost out because the competition is based on the total number of votes accrued by each party. Aida broke away from the national Social Indigenous Alliance party (Alianza Social Indigena)to start the Social and Indigenous Movement (Movimiento Social e Indigena) because of its support for Sergio Fajardo’s candidacy for the presidency, despite Fajardo’s support for the current government’s militaristic Democratic Security policy which has seen a huge increase in human rights violations and forced displacement in Colombia.



Aida, who visited the UK in September at the invitation of Unison Northern and Northern TUC, and in conjunction with the Colombia Solidarity Campaign, vowed to continue to work for a change in Colombia and to continue her community-oriented work, saying “Not much changes, it just means I will continue the struggle from outside the Senate not from within it”. Aida has campaigned for human rights and social justice in Colombia, and until last year was the spokesperson for the Minga of Social and Communitarian Resistance, a broad-based social process led by Colombia’s indigenous movement.

The elections were dominated by parties which form part of the hard-line right-wing governing coalition of Alvaro Uribe. They were, however, steeped in controversy, with much talk of armed groups interfering with the electoral process in rural areas, and many seats were won by family members and close friends of politicians who are currently in prison for their links to ultra-right wing paramilitary death squads. Colombia’s presidential elections will be held in May.

Thousands participate in Victims’ Marches all around Colombia

On Saturday 6th March, International Day for the Victims of State Crimes, thousands of victims’ relatives, social organisations and concerned citizens took part in marches all around Colombia . The marchers voiced their opposition to the government’s Democratic Security policy which has seen the complete militarization of civil society, large–scale systematic human rights violations, and massive displacement during Alvaro Uribe’s 8 years as President. They also protested the bubble of impunity surrounding almost all cases of human rights violations committed against the civil population by the army and paramilitary death squads aligned with the government.



Prosecutors in Colombia are investigating more than 1200 ‘false positive’ extrajudicial execution cases, where state forces murder civilians and dress them up in guerrilla uniforms to claim cash rewards offered by the government in return for dead ‘enemy combatants’. Meanwhile, despite the supposed demobilisation of paramilitary death squads they remain active and several respected NGOs have reported that they are growing at an alarming rate. Of the 35,353 paramilitaries who supposedly demobilised in 2003 and 2004, only 698 (1.98%) have been convicted for their offences, despite them being responsible for some of the most horrific, large scale violent crimes against humanity in recent human history. The National Movement of Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE) issued a statement voicing its concern that the vast majority of candidates in May’s Presidential election have vowed to continue with the Democratic Security policy.

This was the third year that Colombia’s victims have marched, and victims talked of the fear and harassment which they must conquer in order to demonstrate in public. “We are treated as criminals and enemies of the state rather than victims. Something must be done about the threats and violence against victims’ families in Colombia” said one victim’s relative who asked not to be named.

Two Thousand March After Another Indigenous Leader Murdered in Cauca Department, Colombia

Civilian Population Suffering Consequences of Escalation in Violence

More than two thousand indigenous community members and representatives from national and international social organisations marched on Friday 26th February in protest over the murder of yet another indigenous leader by armed groups in Cauca department. Andres Muelas was killed in mysterious circumstances on Wednesday 24th February when he was returning home on his motorbike on the Pan-American highway. He was shot in the head and died instantly, possibly in cross-fire between armed groups, or possibly deliberately targeted. The army’s official version of events does not match that of witnesses, arousing suspicion within the indigenous community. What is certain is that Andres was a very popular, respected young leader who at 28 years old was already directing literacy projects and had held several positions on the council of his community.

This year has seen an intensification of the armed conflict in Northern Cauca department after the army installed a battalion with 2000 soldiers in the area. The impact on the civil population has been catastrophic, with several indigenous community members killed in cross-fire, dozens injured, and large-scale displacement of people fleeing the violence which has engulfed the area. Neither the army, the FARC guerrilla group, nor ultra-right wing paramilitaries aligned to the government are showing any regard for the safety of the local population, and are instead seeking to involve locals in the conflict by demanding trying to force their co-operation and forcibly recruiting youngsters. All sides regularly violate international humanitarian law and are responsible for systematic human rights violations.

On Saturday 20th February, six houses and the local hospital were destroyed when the army and FARC combatants engaged in heavy fighting in Jambalo village. Instead of ordering the army to respect the local population, President Uribe claimed that the local indigenous population had stopped the army from capturing some drugs traffickers in indigenous territory, and stated in a clear reference to indigenous communities that the government will not permit the existence of ‘mini Republics of delinquents’. This is in line with the Uribe administration’s policy of claiming that indigenous communities are linked to the FARC, a cynical tactic which makes them legitimate targets for army and paramilitary violence and also fails to recognise the indigenous movement’s categorical rejection of all armed groups and its own political process which has been attacked by all sides in the armed conflict. President Uribe’s comments also ignore the fact that FARC guerrillas have murdered several indigenous leaders in Northern Cauca department after the indigenous population dismantled several FARC cocaine laboratories in indigenous territory.




In the public rally which followed Friday’s march, Cauca indigenous leader Jorge Arias angrily called on all armed groups to respect the autonomy of indigenous communities and abandon indigenous territories immediately, and to “open their dark hearts”. Andres Muela’s brother, Ruben Dario, asked ‘how many more brothers and sisters do we have to lose before they realise that they aren’t going to force us to abandon our territory?”.







Please write to the Colombian embassy and demand that the government respect international humanitarian law and the human rights of the civil population in Cauca department, as well as the territorial autonomy of indigenous communities. You can email the Colombian embassy in London at elondres@cancilleria.gov.co and mail@colombianembassy.co.uk

Constitutional Court Rules Out Second Re-election for Colombian President Alvaro Uribe

In a historical decision on Friday 26th March the Colombian Constitutional Court ruled out a referendum proposed by President Alvaro Uribe’s supporters over a constitutional amendment which would have allowed Uribe to stand for election for a third consecutive term. The magistrates voted 7-2 against the referendum, ruling that the proposed amendment was unconstitutional because it would upset the balance of power between state institutions. It also cited the numerous procedural irregularities in the referendum project’s financing and its passage through the Colombian congress. The Congress illegally changed the text of the constitutional amendment.

Politicians, social organisations and large sections of the media celebrated the decision and praised the independence of the Constitutional Court, which came under heavy pressure from the government to pass the motion. President Uribe’s Legal Secretary paid a last minute visit to the Court on Thursday to try and convince magistrates to approve the referendum, and the government put huge pressure on the magistrates in its public discourse. The presidential elections will take place in May, and have now been thrown wide open.

Meanwhile, many are predicting that President Uribe could end up facing justice for the systematic human rights violations against the civil population and crimes against humanity which have taken place during his time in office. President Uribe will leave office on August 7th.