A/HRC/16/22
Annex
Illustrative cases of violations of human rights and breaches
of international humanitarian law
1.
As a complement to the High Commissioner’s report on the situation of human
rights in Colombia, and by way of illustration, a number of cases of human rights violations
and breaches of international humanitarian law that have come to the attention of the office
in Colombia of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (“OHCHR-Colombia”) during
the reporting period are described below.
A.
Human rights defenders
2.
The following are illustrative cases of killings, kidnappings, threats, arbitrary
detentions, NGO’s offices break-ins, and information theft against human rights defenders,
which have been attributed to members of illegal armed groups that emerged after the
demobilization of paramilitary organisations, members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), as well
as state agents. OHCHR-Colombia is especially concerned about the murder of leaders,
peasant farmers and internally displaced persons involved in land restitution cases,
particularly in the departments of Antioquia, Cauca and Sucre.
(a)
In San Onofre (Sucre), on 18 May, Rogelio Martínez was murdered. Mr.
Martínez, a member of the National Movement of Victims of State Crimes (MOVICE),
Sucre section, was a leader of a group of families that returned to the “La Alemania” farm
in 2007, and since 2009 entered the Ministry of Interior and Justice Protection Programme
due to what the Police classified as “extraordinary risk”.
(b)
On 23 May, Alexander Quintero, who worked defending victims’ rights of
the Alto Naya massacre in 2001 and promoting processes of peaceful coexistence and
articulation between Afro-descendent, indigenous and peasant farmer communities in Alto
Naya, was killed in Santander de Quilichao (Cauca).
(c)
On 10 August, Jair Murillo, leader of the Afro-Colombian organisation of
internally displaced persons in Buenaventura, Fundacion Integral del Pacifico Nariñense
(Integrated Foundation of the Pacific coast in Nariño), was murdered in Buenaventura
(Valle del Cauca).
(d)
On 19 September, Hernando Pérez, a peasant farmer who along with other
leaders acted as liaison between peasant farmers and the Association of Victims for
Restitution of Land and Assets (ASOVIRESTIBI) in Uraba (Antioquia) to promote claims
for land stolen by paramilitary groups, was killed in Necoclí (Antioquia).
(e)
In January, fictional pages appeared on Facebook accusing several human
rights defenders and members of NGOs, as well as academics of the Antioquia University,
of being sympathizers of FARC-EP.
(f)
In September, a human rights defender was forced to leave Itagüí (Antioquia)
after receiving threats from criminal groups when the NGO he worked with denounced the
wave of violence being caused by confrontations between these groups in the city.
(g)
On 8 July, four human rights defenders were kidnapped by members of the
ELN in Teorama (Norte de Santander) and were released a few days later.
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