A/HRC/7/39
page 30
II. BREACHES OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
A. Murder and threats against protected persons
21. The office in Colombia recorded in 2007 a large number of massacres, most of which were
attributed to members of FARC-EP. On 18 June, 11 assemblymen from Valle del Cauca,
kidnapped by FARC-EP in 2002 were murdered. In Turbo, on 16 May, members of FARC-EP
were allegedly responsible for opening fire against a vehicle, which caused the deaths of four
people including a girl aged 3. In Cumbal, Nariño, on 5 June, FARC-EP were allegedly
responsible for the death of eight members of the indigenous Awá and Pasto communities. There
was also the killing of three peasant farmers allegedly perpetrated by members of the ELN,
on 12 March in Mercaderes, Cauca.
22. There were also reports of selective murders. On 15 January, members of FARC-EP
murdered two teachers in Ricaurte, Nariño, and on 23 January, they murdered the president of
the Community Action Board in Samaná, Caldas. Members of ELN were allegedly responsible
for the murder of a community leader in Tame, Arauca on 28 July. On 11 June, on the
Totumeando-Manjuari road, members of FARC-EP reportedly used an electric saw to kill a truck
driver.
23. According to information collected, 8 potential candidates and 22 candidates to the 2007
local elections were murdered by the illegal armed groups in the course the election campaigns.
Members of FARC-EP were allegedly responsible for most of these murders. There were also
murders of local authorities. In El Doncello, Caquetá, on 9 July, two municipal councillors were
murdered during actions attributed to members of FARC-EP. The same group was allegedly
responsible for the murder of the Mayor of San José del Palmar, Chocó, on 12 July.
24. There continued to be reports of murders of indigenous leaders. FARC-EP were allegedly
responsible for the murder of two members of the Central Assembly of the Nasas settlements in
Florida, Valle del Cauca, the murder of a member of the Awá community in the Cuascabi
Paldubi reservation in Nariño, on 1 May, and of two members of the Embera Katio indigenous
community in Cordoba on 31 May. ELN was allegedly responsible for the murder of an Awá
leader on 11 January in the Gualcalá reservation in Nariño.
25. There were reports of murders attributed to the illegal armed group Autodefensas
Campesinas - Nueva Generación (“New Generation-Peasant Self-Defence Force”, or AC-NG).
On 3 February, in Samaniego, Nariño, a man was taken from his home by a group of individuals,
and on 8 February, his body was found with signs of torture. On 25 February, the Mayor of
Cumbitara, Nariño was intercepted by a group of paramilitary AC-NG, who tied him to a tree
and threatened to kill him.
26. There were death threats against candidates to the local elections and authorities. In Huila,
several mayors reported death threats attributed to members of FARC-EP. The same group
was allegedly responsible for threats against municipal officials in Villagarzón and in
Puerto Guzmán, Putumayo, and against five mayors in Valle del Cauca.
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