Colombia registers the murder of 215 social leaders in 2022

Colombia has registered the murder of 216 social leaders during 2022, as reported by the Ombudsman on Monday.

The figure is the highest since 2016, the year in which the Early Warning System (SAT) began the systematic registration of these crimes.

It represents an increase of 49% compared to 2021, when 145 crimes of this type were registered.

The territorial breakdown reflects the impact of the main armed groups and organized crime organizations.

The most affected departments have been Nariño and Cauca, with 35 and 26 cases, respectively.

They are followed by Antioquia and Putumayo, which registered 22 murders each.

In all these departments there is a presence of illegal groups.

In addition, the classification by type of activity shows that the leaders of the Community Action Boards (JAC) remain the most vulnerable group.

These boards are formally responsible for the grassroots organization in the villages and neighborhoods, and in many cases they have promoted the substitution of illicit crops.

Its leaders usually top the list of murdered and this year they did so again with 63 homicides, 80% more than the previous year.

They are followed by indigenous leaders and other community groups, with 47 and 36 deaths in 2022, respectively.

Black communities, who denounce ongoing ethnocide, record 12 deaths.

The Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, has emphasized that these leaders reflect the "concerns" of Colombians.

“It's not just about numbers.

You have to think of 215 hard-hit families and affected communities, who are left without the people who fight for their rights.

It is a serious impact on the basis of democracy ”, he declared.

The president, Gustavo Petro, has been one of the most critical voices of the inability of the government of Iván Duque to stop the murders.

Now, total peace and rapprochement with armed groups seek to curb the violence.

According to Camargo, the expectation is that the peace negotiations with the National Liberation Army and the bilateral ceasefire with other groups announced on December 31 will allow the murders to decrease this year.

However, the violence does not stop.

The NGO Indepaz has already counted six social leaders assassinated so far in 2023. The last one was Samuel Sabí Dorado, secretary of the Community Action Board of the Reina Baja village, in the municipality of La Montañita (Caquetá).

It is an area in which the Border Commandos operate, indicated in early warning 011-22 for imposing restrictions that limit the right to assembly and generate a "serious impact" on the autonomy of the communities.

The total number of social leaders murdered between 2016 and 2022 is 1,113 cases, according to the Ombudsman's Office.

For its part, Indepaz counted 1,409 since the signing of the Peace Agreement in 2016 until January 29, 2022, when another community leader was added to the list of victims.

Óscar Baena, president of the JAC of the El Desierto village in Villa Garzón (Putumayo), was the last leader registered by Indepaz, which recorded 189 murders.

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