The situation of Human Rights Defenders has been deteriorating in recent years in some regions of Colombia, including the department of Nariño, after the signing of the Peace Agreement. In February 2018, the Ombudsman’s Office issued Early Warning No. 026-18 in which it identified the risk situation of various human rights organizations in the country, including Nariño, where 17 organizations were identified, most of them from Tumaco. According to Report 010-17 and Early Warning 026-18 of the same entity, between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2018, 437 social leaders had been killed in Colombia. Of that total, 24 cases corresponded to the department of Nariño, which ranked fifth among the 30 departments with homicide figures of social leaders in that period. Cauca with 106 homicides was the department that took first place followed by Antioquia with 60 cases, Norte del Santander with 31 cases and Valle del Cauca with 28 cases[1].
According to figures collected by the Regional Observatory of Human Rights and IHL, between 2018 and 2019 approximately 33 human rights defenders have been killed in Nariño. Of this total, 22 defenders correspond to murders committed during the year 2019, which means that on average in Nariño almost 2 human rights defenders are murdered per month.
The majority of murders of social leaders occurred in the municipality of Tumaco (32%), followed by Samaniego (18%), Santa Bárbara de Iscuandé (14%) and Barbacoas (9%). 36% of the human rights defenders killed were indigenous leaders, followed by community leaders with 32% and advocates. with 9%.
Human Rights Defenders Murdered
Nariño 2019
Name | Date | Alleged perpetror | Type of leader* | Process | Municipality |
Leonardo Nasacuas Rodríguez | 12/01/2019 | Unknown | Indigenous leader | Ethnic and territorial rights | Ricaurte |
Maritza Ramírez Chaverra | 24/01/2019 | Unknown | Community leader | Human rights of rural peasant communities and right to territory | Tumaco |
Nelly Bernal Andrade | 14/02/2019 | Unknown | Indigenous leader | Ethnic and territorial rights | Samaniego |
Argemiro López Pertuz | 17/03/2019 | Dissents of FARC (Los Contadores) | Community leader | Human rights of rural peasant communities and right to territory | Tumaco |
Marco Antonio Adrada Viana | 28/04/2019 | Unknown | Peasant leader | Human rights of rural peasant communities and right to territory | Leiva |
Miguel Ángel Alpala | 01/05/2019 | Unknown | Indigenous leader | Ethnic and territorial rights | Cumbal |
Milton Hernández | 02/05/2019 | Unknown | Afro-descendant leader | Ethnic and territorial rights | Santa Bárbara |
Carlos Obando | 02/05/2019 | Unknown | Community leader | Ethnic and territorial rights | Santa Bárbara |
Daniel Obando | 02/05/2019 | Unknown | Community leader | Ethnic and territorial rights | Santa Bárbara |
Efraín Prado Rosero | 03/05/2019 | Unknown | Community leader | Promotion, respect and protection of the human rights of vulnerable communities | Mallama |
Paula Andrea Rosero Ordoñez | 20/05/2019 | Unknown | Lawyer human rights defender | Promotion, respect and protection of human rights | Samaniego |
Leidy Jackeline Burgos Paí | 07/06/2019 | Unknown | Indigenous leader | Ethnic and territorial rights | Barbacoas |
Robert Dionisio García Bisbicús | 07/06/2019 | Unknown | Indigenous leader | Ethnic and territorial rights | Tumaco |
Rocío García Pai | 07/06/2019 | Unknown | Indigenous leader | Ethnic and territorial rights | Tumaco |
Libardo Montenegro Quintero | 11/06/2019 | Unknown | Journalist human rights defender | Promotion, respect and protection of human rights | Samaniego |
Karen Bernal García | 24/07/2019 | Unknown | Indigenous leader | Ethnic and territorial rights | Samaniego |
Wilson Charly Tenorio Quiñones | 15/08/2019 | Unknown | Community leader | Promotion, respect and protection of the human rights of vulnerable communities | Magüí Payán |
José Cortés | 6/09/2019 | Unknown | Community leader | Promotion, respect and protection of the human rights of vulnerable communities | Tumaco |
Lilia Patricia García | 13/10/2019 | Unknown | Indigenous leader | Ethnic and territorial rights | Barbacoas |
Javier Córdoba Chaguendo | 18/10/2019 | Unknown | Journalist human rights defender | Promotion, respect and protection of human rights | Tumaco |
Jennifer López | 27/11/2019 | Unknown | Victims´ leader | Promotion, respect and protection of human rights of the victims of armed conflict | Pasto |
Lucy Villarreal | 23/12/2019 | Unknown | Cultural leader | Promotion, respect and protection of cultural rights of any people or community | Tumaco |
Source: Regional Observatory of Human Rights and IHL / Fundepaz
The most worrying thing is that in only 2 cases of the 22 murders, that is 9%, there is a progress in the investigations to determine the perpetrators and motives. In April 2019, the Prosecutor’s Office captured five suspected members of Los Contadores, among them alias Popocho, who would be the homicide determiner of community leader Argemiro López Pertuz for his promotional work in Tumaco of the Program for the Replacement of Illicit Crops.
In October the Prosecutor’s
Office reported that in the framework of Operation ‘Shield’ II – Nariño, Kevin
Javier Mendoza Centeno was captured in Cali, indicated of the murder of the
Human Rights Defender, Paula Andrea Rosero Ordoñez , Municipal Ombudsman of
Samaniego, occurred on May 20. A Colombian Pacific drug trafficker structure
would have contacted Kevin Javier Mendoza in Cali to assassinate the leader
Paula Rosero.
[1] DEFENSORÍA DEL PUEBLO. Respuesta a derecho de petición de información [Correo electrónico]. Mensaje enviado a: Fundepaz. 21 de Febrero de 2019. [citado el 28 de Febrero de 2019]. p. 1-4