In the most recent edition of the magazine Night and Fogpresented on April 24 by the Popular Research and Education Center (Cinep) and the NGO Colombia Diversa, Colombia suffered an upsurge in violence in 2023.
According to the organizations’ database, at least 1,277 crimes, of which 497 correspond to loss of lifewere presented as a consequence of human rights violations and acts of political violence.
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Among the crimes that were recorded throughout the national territory, the report highlights: extrajudicial executions, intentional homicides and murders for political reasons or social intolerance.
The report highlights that the department of Cauca concentrates disproportionate violence with 28.7% of the cases registered in the country. There, social leaders who were fighting for their communities and their rights were murdered.
To give some examples, José Hernán Tenorio Mestizo and Albán Mestizo Yosando, young leaders of the Avelino Ul Indigenous Association, were murdered in Toribío and Caloto, respectively. “Their commitment to the defense of the territory and the well-being of their people made them targets of violence,” stated Cinep.
Traditional authorities such as Frady Alexander Bomba Campo, indigenous Mayor and president of the MAIS party of Caldono, were also murdered; José Arley Cruz Chocué, traditional indigenous authority of the Kwes’x Yu Kiwe reservation; and Rogelio Chaté, social and spiritual leader of the Pueblo Nuevo reservation.
In addition to indigenous leaders, peasant voices were also silenced, as in the case of Carlos Arturo Quijano, a member of the Santa Lucía Association of Peasant Workers and Small Owners, who was murdered in Cajibío.
The organizations analyzed what happened in Cauca in 2023 and showed that, in that region, a total of 121 cases of violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), 42 human rights violations and 212 cases of political-social violence.
The report indicates that, although Cauca is the epicenter of violence, other departments such as Santander, Antioquia and Norte de Santander also face serious problems in terms of human rights and socio-political violence.
With a figure of 111 social leaders murdered in 2023, the report by Cinep and Colombia Diversa delved into an analysis of the violations of the rights of LGBTIQ+ defenders.
The organizations indicated that violence against this population continues to grow, as of the date of the report’s publication, 155 murders were identified in 2023. The preliminary figure of victimizations against LGBTIQ+ leaders corresponds to 13 victimizations: 10 homicides and 3 individual threats.
Compared to the previous year, that is, with 2022, the statistics revealed that for that year, 426 incidents of violence against the LGBTIQ+ population were recorded, including 66 directed against human rights defenders.
So things, In 2023 the number of homicides against LGBTIQ+ leaders increased by 12%. Threats also increased, doubling the numbers from 2022. Gay men and trans women are the main victims, especially in Valle del Cauca, Antioquia and Bogotá.
Among the cases remembered are: the murder in Bogotá of Óscar Parada Torres, lawyer and LGBTIQ+ representative, in 2022; that of Franklin Pabón Camacho, non-binary trans activist of the Territorial Council of Peace, Reconciliation and Coexistence, murdered in Malambo (Atlántico); that of Alba Karina Velasco, a lesbian woman and community leader murdered in Santander de Quilichao; that of José Eduardo, known as “Guama”, in Cesar; and that of La Gaby, in Antioquia, who lost their lives at the hands of paramilitaries.
On the other hand, it stands out that threats against LGBTIQ+ leaders are a constant in Colombia. In 2022, 17 cases of threats were recorded that were combined with the context of socio-political violence, especially during the electoral period. The perpetrators of these crimes include unknown persons, illegal armed groups, members of the Public Force, known persons and criminal gangs..
For Javier Giraldo, researcher at Cinep, “impunity is institutionalized,” as he pointed out that the judicial investigations of the cases recorded in version 68 of the Noche y Niebla Magazine should not add to the “17,000 trials of those most responsible for the most serious crimes.” horrendous (that) they were transferred to the ordinary justice system, where only three prosecutors would be available to deal with them.”
