Omar Guasiruma
Omar Guasiruma was a leader of the Embera Chami reservation of Las Garrapata Canyon in Valle del Cauca and member of the Indigenous Regional Organisation of Valle del Cauca (ORIVAC). The indigenous defender stood out for his intense commitment to guarantee food sovereignty to his community, advocating for the restitution of ancestral territories that were usurped by multinationals and actors in the armed conflict.
The defender's humanity was taken from him on March 23, 2020, when two unknown men murdered him with a knife at his home. His brother Ernesto Guasiruma was also killed, while other relatives were seriously injured. The defender and his family were complying with the quarantine decreed by the Government by the time of the assault.
HRDs in Colombia work in a violent and unsafe environment. They are subjected to threats, intimidation, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, physical assaults, torture, killings, illegal searches of their homes and offices and stigmatisation as a result of their activities in defence of human rights.
