Front Line strongly condemns the murder of human rights defender, Mr Joel Pérez Cárdenas, near San Vicente del Caguán on 8 December 2008. Joel Pérez Cárdenas was one of the founders and first directors of the movement which became known as the Corporación por la Defensa de Derechos Humanos Caguán Vive (Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights in Caguán). He was the Chairman of the Junta de Acción Comunal de la Vereda Vegas Bajo Pato, (Board of Community Action of the Vereda Vegas in the region of Bajo Pato), Vice-President of the Asociación Ambiental del Bajo (The Environmental Association of Bajo Pato), and a former Councillor of San Vicente del Caguán for the Polo Democrático Alernativo (The Alternative Democratic Pole), a leftist opposition coalition.

On 8 December 2008, at approximately 8:00 am, Joel Pérez Cárdenas left his home in the town of San Vicente del Caguán on his Yamaha DT motorbike to go to town of Puerto Rico, some 45 minutes away. He had been scheduled to return the same day. On 10 December, his body was found 20 minutes from the centre of San Vicente del Caguán. He had been shot in the head, decapitated and burned. According to reports received his body had been seen on the morning of 9 December with smoke still rising from it on the side of the road, indicating that his murder was possibly committed in the early hours of that day. His motorbike, with registration plate ICZ 45B, has yet to be recovered.

According to testimonies received from the residents of the area where the body was found, the Grupo Meteoro (Meteor Unit) of the national army had been patrolling this area on Monday, 8 December. When police agents from the Servicio de Intestigaciones Judiciales e Inteligencia (Judicial and Intelligence Investigation Service) went to inspect the body, members of the army were still in the area. The residents claim that they informed the army of the existence of the body but they did not attempt to remove it.

Front Line is concerned that this latest assassination forms part of a pattern of intimidation of human rights defenders in Colombia.