[News] Colombia: 46 Social Leaders, 10 Ex-FARC Members Killed in 2020

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Colombia-46-Social-Leaders-10-Ex-Farc-Members-Killed-in-2020-20200218-0023.html 



  Colombia: 46 Social Leaders, 10 Ex-FARC Members Killed in 2020

February 18, 2020
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The systematic killing of social leaders and former members of the 
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) continues with impunity in 
Colombia, as two brothers - human rights defenders and /campesino 
/leaders - were killed Sunday in the southwest department of Cauca, 
raising the tally to 46 murdered in 2020.

“The aggression was carried out by several armed men. After this, it was 
already confirmed that the two victims led an organizational process in 
the area, a worrying aspect because it happens after the murder of an 
Indigenous leader in less than 24 hours,” Human Rights area Coordinator 
of the Association of Indigenous Municipalities of the Northern Cauca 
Mauricio Capaz said.

A representative of the National Federation of Unitary Agriculture 
Deivin Hurtado confirmed that men killed are social leaders and human 
rights defenders, brothers Albeiro and Luis Hugo Silva Mosquera.

One of them died in the medical center of this municipality and the 
other when he was taken to the Valle del Lili clinic in the city of 
Cali. The community was responsible for providing first aid after 
allegedly six armed men attacked the Silva brothers, injuring an 
Indigenous guard as well.

“We continue to regret this kind of situation, not only a family is in 
mourning, it is a whole community that cries the departure of people who 
actively participated in the protection and welfare of their territory, 
thus killing leaders who watched over the general welfare of farmers and 
Indigenous people, worrying that this will happen amid the high presence 
of the public force in the territories,” Hurtado added.

So far this year, 46 social leaders and 10 ex-FARC members have been 
killed, and according to a report from the Institute for Development and 
Peace Studies (Indepaz), around 630 social leaders have been killed in 
Colombia, after the signing of the peace agreement in November 2016.

-- 
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