Renown Indigenous rights activist Rigoberta Menchu has added her voice to the campaign in Colombia to release the Indigenous leader Feliciano Valencia after he was recently sentenced to spend 18 years in prison, according to media reports Thursday.
Menchu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and of the Mayan Quiche community in Guatemala, said it bothered her to see “our brother Feliciano” captured since he has been an important voice for Indigenous people and for peace efforts in the country. The activist also urged the Colombian government to release him.
Valencia is from the Nasa Indigenous community in Colombia and winner of the Colombian Peace Prize in 2000. The activist has for years fought for the defense and visibility of Indigenous peoples in the country, particularly the Nasa community, which has been one of the worst affected by the ongoing armed conflict in the country.
The over 50 years of internal conflict between the Colombian government, pro-government paramilitaries and guerrilla groups such as the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) has resulted in the deaths and displacement of thousands of Indigenous peoples in the country.
Last month, Valencia was sentenced to spend 18 years in prison after being charged with kidnapping a soldier back in 2008.
Valencia's supporters claim that the soldier was arrested by the Nasa community's legally recognized “Indigenous Guard” and sentenced under the Nasa's own justice system.
The Indigenous communities say the soldier was arrested because he was dressed as a civilian and infiltrated an Indigenous protest in order to collect intelligence on the movement.
Valencia was already arrested and tried for the crime in 2010, but was found not guilty.
However, Colombia's Public Ministry appealed the sentence, which led to his retrial and subsequent 18 year sentencing.
Supporters say that a lack of evidence against Valencia and the unusually long term jail sentence is evidence that Valencia's sentence is politically motivated.
Menchu echoed this sentiment in a meeting this week, saying Indigenous leaders are stigmatized in Colombia. She also advocated that these leaders be included in the country's peace process currently being discussed between government and FARC officials in Havava, Cuba.
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Menchu said it is still unclear how the country's Indigenous people will be protected if a peace deal is signed, in what many have called a “post-conflict” Colombia. The dignity and rights of Indigenous people must be protected, said the leader as quoted in the Vanguardia Liberal.