Author: EFE
Photo : Getty Images
The United Nations (UN) Office for Human Rights in Colombia reported today that in the first quarter of this year it received 43 complaints of murders of social leaders in the country.
The social leader Yoiner Gómez was murdered in the department of Cauca, the NGO Institute of Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz) reported this Monday.
Gómez was a recognized social leader and representative of the Youth Committee of the municipality of Patía and according to Indepaz “he carried out important social work for his community.”
The information added that the social leader was attacked by gunfire and although he was helped and taken to the region’s healthcare center, he died due to the severity of his injuries.
The Ombudsman’s Office issued an early warning and a report published in 2023 in which it warns of the risk situation in which the members of the Community Action Boards, leaders and defenders and human rights that make up ethnic organizations, public servants, councilors are. municipal authorities for “the persistence of social control actions by armed groups” in this part of the country.
You may be interested: FARC dissidents attacked police officers in Corinto, Cauca
In the region where the murder occurred, there is a presence of the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla, FARC dissidents and other drug trafficking groups that seek to control the area for drug trafficking activities.
The United Nations (UN) Office for Human Rights in Colombia reported today that in the first quarter of this year it received 43 complaints of murders of social leaders in the country.
“From January 1 to March 31, 2024, the UN Office for Human Rights learned of 43 allegations of homicides of defenders. Of these there is 1 verified case, 39 cases are in the process of verification and 3 cases are not conclusive,” the organization detailed in a report.
According to the complaints, the largest number of murders that are in the process of verification occurred in Cauca, where there were nine.
According to the Ombudsman’s Office, in 2023, 181 leaders and human rights defenders were murdered.
