Radio Havana Cuba | Colombia: Confirmation of the assassination of another peasant social leader

With his death, there are 165 leaders and human rights defenders killed in 2021 and 1,280
Since the signing of the peace agreement in 2016 (Photo: PL)

BOGOTA, December 19 (RHC) The Colombian Institute for Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAS) has confirmed the killing of social leader Uber Velasquez by unidentified gunmen.

With his death, there are 165 leaders and human rights defenders assassinated in 2021 and 1280 since the signing of the peace agreement in 2016 between the government of Juan Manuel Santos on behalf of the state and the FARC-EP, specifically the entity.

Endipaz explained that the well-known leader belonging to the Peasant Control of the San Jose de Apartado District in Apartado Municipality, Antioquia Province, was killed by individuals who came to his home located in the village of La Balsa, Apartado and attacked him.

The Office of the Ombudsman issued an early warning warning of the possibility of systematic violations of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, which also leads to risks to the lives of the population and has a direct impact on their social, productive and social life. development. the society.

According to the Office of the Ombudsman, the above is indicated as a result of the interests of strengthening and consolidating the territorial control of armed groups present in the region.

The criminal structure Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia or Clan del Golfo, outsourcing gangs, as well as the National Liberation Army and the Seventh Division of the National Army operate in that area.

During the commemoration of the five-year anniversary of the peace agreement, both former guerrillas, as victims of the conflict, academics and international figures cited the killing of social leaders and ex-combatants and massacres, as one of their major failures and urged Evan Duque’s government to act to stop this scourge. (Source: PL)