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News > Colombia

Nearly 1,000 Social Leaders Threatened in Colombia

  • Nearly 1,000 Social Leaders Threatened in Colombia

    | Photo: Generación Paz

Published 3 July 2019
Opinion

From March to June, murders of human rights defenders in Colombia and ex-combatants of the disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army increased.
 

At least 983 social leaders have been threatened with death in Colombia and 50 percent of them are women, Colombia's Ombudsman announced today.

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According to the National People's Defender, Carlos Negret, the authorities must give importance to the early warnings to provide protection and to protect against intimidation against the exercise of social leadership. 

Cited by Radio Caracol Nacional, Negret said that the threatening pamphlets signed by the paramilitary group Gaitanistas Self-Defense of Colombia or that bear the authorship of other armed groups cannot be underestimated. 

From March to June, murders of human rights defenders in Colombia and ex-combatants of the disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army increased.

In the last few hours, the Ombudsman and the National Prosecutor requested that the justice system advance quickly in the investigations, which must find those responsible for this serious intimidation, on whom the weight of the law must fall, expressed in a joint statement. 

Both institutions expressed their support 'for the legitimate and legal action of leaders, senators and officials working for the search for truth' and urged 'respect, protect and support the action of the Integral System of Truth, Justice and Reparation.'

In the last two and a half years, more than 600 social leaders and more than 140 Colombian ex-guerrillas have been killed. 

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