During 2022, the UN documented the assassination of 43 social leaders

The United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia presented on Tuesday the quarterly report of the Secretary of Security, which accounts for the murder of 43 human rights defenders, leaders and leaders in the country so far in 2022.

The document, which gathers information from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), details that four of the victims were women, 13 were indigenous and seven Afro-Colombians, also records the murder of 315 former combatants of the demobilized FARC guerrilla since the signing of the Agreement Final of Peace, eleven of which have been perpetrated this year.

“Ex-combatants have also been affected by the escalation of violence in Arauca, where an ex-combatant was killed in January and more than 60 fled, abandoning their productive projects and the former Territorial Spaces for Training and Reintegration (ETCR) in Arauquita,” the UN said.

He also noted that in February a group of signatories were attacked by armed persons in the department of Putumayo while they were holding a meeting of their cooperative in which the leader of reintegration and substitution of illicit crops, Jorge Santofimio, died and two women ex-combatants and one of their children were injured 13 years old. The report also records that more than 30 escorts left the former ETCR of San José del Guaviare due to threats by dissent.

In addition, the report documents that 25 massacres have been perpetrated during this period, four of which have been verified with 12 victims and 20 in the process of verification, as well as the forced displacement of 13,821 people, and the confinement of 48,331, of which 42,000 victims of this crime are in the department of Chocó, mostly indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.

“The Ombudsman's Office issued seven early warnings identifying risks for Bogotá and 20 other municipalities in Córdoba, Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Putumayo, Risaralda, Tolima and Valle del Cauca, and a national electoral early warning, which warned of risks for 521 municipalities. Levels of violence affecting civilians have intensified in several departments, such as Arauca, Chocó and Putumayo,” said the UN quarterly report.

With regard to the legislative elections, the document highlighted that most ex-combatants were able to exercise the right to vote and incidents that occurred in the middle of election day were resolved through mechanisms articulated between government and state institutions, the mission and representatives of the ex-combatants.

“This is the second term of Congress in which the Commons party (formerly FARC) will be guaranteed five seats in the Senate and five in the House of Representatives,” concluded the UN.

These figures from the United Nations Verification Mission show the escalation of violence in different regions of the country and the constant violation of the rights of people in the process of reintegration and who are watching over the rights of their communities, making it clear that government efforts have not been sufficient to ensure their safety and the development of their exercises with the communities.

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