On 18 November 2016, Mr Erley Monroy died of wounds inflicted by unknown attackers. On 19 November 2016, land and environmental rights defender Mr Hugo Cuéllar was shot five times by two unknown assailants, he survived but remains hospitalised in critical condition. Two more grassroots leaders were killed and another human rights defender survived an assassination attempt over the same weekend.
On 16 October 2016, land rights defender Mr Yimer Chávez Rivera was shot and killed by two unknown men whilst he drove his motorcycle with his wife, Ms Noira Castillo, in La Sierra, El Cauca. Ms Castillo survived the attack but was also injured and remains hospitalised.
On 20 September 2016, journalist and human rights defender Ms Claudia Julieta Duque became aware that her place of residence was under surveillance, being both filmed and photographed by a group of police officers, who had not notified her of their intentions. The human rights defender and her daughter have faced serious threats related to her work for many years and has as a result been granted precautionary measures (MC 339-09) by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
On 16 January 2016, unidentified gunmen killed human rights defender Ms Nelly Amaya in her home town of San Calixto, in the department of Norte Santander. Nelly Amaya's assassination follows the killing of another member of MOVICE, Mr Daniel Abril, on 13 November 2015, in his home town of Trinidad, in the department of Casanare. The attack also comes in the wake of a recent dissemination of threatening pamphlets against MOVICE, aimed at stopping their peaceful and legitimate human rights work in Colombia.
The human rights defender has been the target of intimidation, harassment, threats and surveillance since 2001, when she began investigating into the murder of fellow journalist Jaime Garzón and she found out that agents of the Administrative Department of Security (DAS) were involved in a cover-up. For security reasons, Claudia Julieta Duque was forced to leave the country on several occasions.
Human rights defenders and members of the rights organisations Movimiento de Victimas de Crimenes de Estado and its partner organisations in the Departments of Atlántico, Sucre and Magdalena Medio received a number of death threats in 2015 in the form of pamphlets, phone calls and comments to members of their community.
Abelardo Sánchez Serrano has received death threats on several occasions. On 25 and 26 November 2013, several men were seen watching the CREDHOS headquarters building, where the human rights defender was working. They are believed to be paramilitary operatives tasked with monitoring the CREDHOS offices. In 2013, CREDHOS received information from trusted sources about paramilitary plans to assassinate Abelardo Sánchez Serrano.
Since 2012, Alfamir Castillo and her family have been facing death threats and persecution. On 17 May 2013, a pamphlet was pushed under the door of the office of Comité Mujeres Corteras de Caña which read: “MUERFE A AlfaMIR A SUS aBOGados POR meTERSE on los lovos peses” (death to Alfamir and her lawyers for messing with the wolves and fishes).
Candelaria Barrios Acosta has received death threats on multiple occasions. On 15 October 2015, a pamphlet threatening members of the human rights organisation Movimiento de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado – MOVICE (Movement of Victims of State Crimes) - including Ms Candelaria Barrios Acosta - was found near human rights defender Ms Ingrid Vergara Chávez in Sucre's home.
Members of the Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz – CIJP, including Danilo Rueda, have been subjected to death threats and other acts of intimidation in the past as a result of their work in defence oh human rights.
On 15 October 2015 pamphlets with death threats against human rights defenders - including Diego Martínez - were circulating in Bogotá, Colombia.
Human rights defender Franklin Torres has received death threats and been subjected to intimidation on several occasions.
On 13 November 2015, human rights defender Mr Daniel Abril was killed while in a bakery in his home town of Trinidad, in the department of Casanare. He was one of the most prominent voices against reported human rights abuses committed by oil companies in the Casanare department. Daniel Abril and other members of MOVICE have been the subject of threats and other forms of harassment.
On 7 March 2016, human rights defender Mr William Castillo Chima was shot dead in the public establishment of “Los Galvanes”, in Villa Echeverry, in the municipality of El Bagre, Antioquia. The assassination occurred one day after his colleague and fellow human rights defender Ms Maria Dania Arrieta Perez received several death threats in text messages sent to her mobile phone.
On 21 January 2015, the body of human rights defender Mr Carlos Alberto Pedraza Salcedo was discovered by members of the judicial police in an uninhabited area of San Bartolomé, Gachancipá Municipality, in the department of Cudinamarca. Carlos Alberto Pedraza Salcedo had allegedly been shot in the head.
Human rights organisations in Colombia continue to face threats of attack. Throughout 2015, pamphlets distributed in Colombia routinely state that named individuals and human rights defenders must leave the area they are in and cease all of their human rights activities. The pamphlets, signed and marked with the stamp of a paramilitary group, most frequently “Las Aguilas Negras”, threaten increased targetting against activists who choose to continue their work.
Human rights defenders and members of Movimiento de Victimas de Crimenes de Estado – MOVICE (Movement of Victims of State Crimes) and its partner organisations, including the Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos – CSPP (Political Prisoner's Solidarity Committee) received a number of death threats throughout the month of January 2015 in the form of pamphlets, phone calls and comments to members of their community.
Human rights defenders and members of the rights organisations Movimiento de Victimas de Crimenes de Estado and its partner organisations in the Departments of Atlántico, Sucre and Magdalena Medio received a number of death threats in 2015 in the form of pamphlets, phone calls and comments to members of their community.
Human rights organisations in Colombia continue to face threats including the Movimiento de Victimas de Crimenes de Estado – MOVICE (Movement of Victims of State Crimes) and the Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos – CSPP (Political Prisoner's Solidarity Committee).
Human rights organisations in Colombia continue to face threats of attack. Throughout 2015, pamphlets distributed in Colombia routinely state that named individuals and human rights defenders must leave the area they are in and cease all of their human rights activities. The pamphlets, signed and marked with the stamp of a paramilitary group, most frequently “Las Aguilas Negras”, threaten increased targetting against activists who choose to continue their work.
Human rights defenders in Colombia continue to face threats of attack. Throughout 2015, pamphlets distributed in Colombia routinely state that named individuals and human rights defenders must leave the area they are in and cease all of their human rights activities. The pamphlets are commonly signed and marked with the stamp of a paramilitary group, most frequently “Las Aguilas Negras”. Threats increased targetting against activists who choose to continue their work.
Human rights defenders and members of Movimiento de Victimas de Crimenes de Estado – MOVICE (Movement of Victims of State Crimes) and its partner organisations in the Departments of Atlántico, Sucre and Magdalena Medio received a number of death threats in 2015 in the form of pamphlets, phone calls and comments to members of their community.
Human rights organisations in Colombia continue to face threats of attack. Throughout 2015, pamphlets distributed in Colombia routinely state that named individuals and human rights defenders must leave the area they are in and cease all of their human rights activities. The pamphlets, signed and marked with the stamp of a paramilitary group, most frequently “Las Aguilas Negras”, threaten increased targetting against activists who choose to continue their work.
Human rights defenders and members of the rights organisations Movimiento de Victimas de Crimenes de Estado and its partner organisations in the Departments of Atlántico, Sucre and Magdalena Medio received a number of death threats in 2015 in the form of pamphlets, phone calls and comments to members of their community.
On the morning of 9 February 2014, human rights defender Ms Martha Díaz received the fifth text message to declare her a military target and threaten her with death within three days.
