Three more assassinations in Colombia‏

Last week one journalist and two social leaders were murdered in unrelated incidents in Colombia. On Monday 15th March, human rights activist Jhonny Hurtado was shot dead near his home on the rural outskirts of La Macarena municipality, Meta department. Jhonny was president of the human rights committee in the La Catalina area of La Macarena.

The organisation has stated that it had previously received death threats from paramilitary groups. The La Macarena area is heavily militarized and has a large army presence. The human rights committee had also been intimidated by the army units in the area, who have singled them out as ‘guerrilla collaborators’.

On the evening of Friday 19th March, journalist Clodomiro Castilla (pictured) was shot dead whilst reading on the terrace in his home in the town of Monteria, Cordoba department. Clodomiro was editor of ‘El pulso del tiempo’ news magazine, and worked on several alternative radio shows. He had received paramilitary death threats because of his work exposing links between important politicians in his region and paramilitary death squads. He was subsequently given a bodyguard by the state, but he gave up the bodyguard last year, arguing that he didn’t trust the state to protect his life.

At 7am on Wednesday 17th March Israel Verona was murdered in his rural home on the outskirts of Saravena municipality, Arauca department. Israel was a member of the Arauca Campesino Association (ACA), an organisation which is being literally exterminated by paramilitary groups. Between the end of October and the 1st of October last year, seven members of the organisation were assassinated.


These latest murders come as the European Union prepares to sign a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia, and prove once again that to defend human rights, participate in legitimate, peaceful political activism, or expose corruption is to risk being assassinated in Colombia. Social leaders, trade unionists, journalists, judges and human rights defenders continue to be murdered with alarming frequency, despite the Colombian government’s claims that human rights have improved in the country and that paramilitary groups no longer exist.

Because of this situation, the US and Canadian governments are refusing to sign Free Trade Agreements with Colombia until it improves. However, the European Union has stated that human rights have nothing to do with commercial agreements and are not a concern for them. The FTA has met with stern resistance from many politicians and civil society organisations who argue that it will indeed have a negative impact upon human rights in Colombia, and will send the wrong message about the European Union’s attitude towards systematic human rights violations.