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“Being a social leader is not a crime”. Murdered community leaders Maria del Pilar Hurtado & Temistocles Machado.
Work in defense of human rights can be dangerous in several parts of the world, and Colombia is among the most dangerous. The role played by these leaders in the Colombian post-conflict process is very important. In this context, many of these social leaders work with people and communities that have been victims of the armed conflict: peasants, Afro-descendant communities, displaced communities, and so on. Therefore, the killing and persecution of community leaders has a great impact on the behavior of the communities they represent. This explains why many of them are constantly threatened. If the government does not attend to these leaders, we will have entire communities submerged in injustice and abandonment.
While the peace agreement was a step towards combating Colombia’s historical violence, it also made it clear that there is still work to be done to prevent further violence. Considering that attacks towards social leaders have increased since 2016, the Human Rights Watch report (2021) suggests one of the causes of this increase is the power vacuum resulting from the demobilization of the FARC, including the emergence of new illegal groups. Therefore, the work of social leaders as defenders of the territories, and the rights of the people who live in them, has become a threat to the interests of the new illegal groups as well as their various financing activities (coca production, illegal mining, etc). In this scenario, community leaders tend to lead initiatives to counteract illegal activities in these territories, such as land restitution and progressive substitution of illicit crops (IACHR, 2019). Such work can be extremely dangerous in Colombia, something that, according to the Somos Defensores report (2018) report cited by IACHR (2019), is reflected in the attacks directed towards this group of leaders between 2016 and 2018; topping the list of human rights groups affected by violence in Colombia, with 20.40% of the murders. Likewise, to a lesser extent the OHCHR report notes that of the 421 murders of human rights defenders documented since 2016, 67 cases of community leaders were identified (IACHR, 2019). Such figures show the predisposition of illegal groups towards targeting community leaders, which implies an attack against the organization and strengthening of communities. In other words, an attack against democracy.
Even though the aforementioned statistics allow us to understand the scale of this problem, it is important to look at individual cases to understand the impact this situation has on families and communities. Community leaders may cover different social areas, but they share the initiative to represent, motivate and keep their community together. María del Pilar Hurtado was a community leader working with her marginalized community in Tierralta, Cordoba, while at the same time working with her husband to raise their four children (El Tiempo, 2019). María del Pilar and her husband were both scrap metal collectors and worked in a sawmill (BBC, 2019) However, María del Pilar was also interested in assisting and looking for alternative homes and jobs for families who had been displaced due to the conflict. When members of her community began building homes on land belonging to a local politician, there were threats against María del Pilar and other members of the community. She was declared a military target by the armed group called Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia (AGC), or the Clan del Golfo, for helping ensure all the families from her community could access the land, and she was murdered on June 21 in front of one of her children. A video showing her distraught son provided a shocking insight for many Colombians into the violence latent in the country’s marginalized regions of conflict.
Another case of the violence faced by this type of leader is Temístocles Machado. Temístocles was a resident of Buenaventura and worked for his community for about 40 years promoting education and defending his community’s right to basic services (Semana Rural, 2018). In particular, Temístocles had led a tireless fight for the conservation of this territory in the face of the threat of armed groups (Semana Rural, 2018). Despite the threats to his life and the lack of security provided by the State, Temístocles did not stop his initiatives. He was interested in defending the interests of his community’s families, who could be or were threatened by armed groups established in the area, and that is what he did until a couple of hired killers assassinated him on January 27, 2018. Temistocles was killed in the parking lot that served as the economic livelihood for him and his 11 children (BBC, 2018). Like Maria del Pilar, Temístocles was head of his family and community. They sought to guarantee their families and communities access to their rights, a better quality of life, and sustainable communities.
Both cases were located in areas that are known for their recurrent tendencies of violence against social leaders in the territory. According to Human Rights Watch (2019), these patterns are more likely to occur in areas such as Cauca, Córdoba, Buenaventura, Nariño, and Catatumbo; where drug production and trafficking, as well as other types of illegal economic activities, are identified. In this line, the “What are the Patterns” report (2018) identified a series of trends that link the geographical areas with respect to cases of human rights violation:
1. They show a high correlation with the presence of illicit crops or places where there are drug trafficking routes.
2. They show a high correlation with regions that have been repeatedly warned by the Early Warning System of the Ombudsman’s Office.
3. They are highly correlated with the presence of paramilitary groups.
4. They are highly correlated with militarized areas.
5. They affect those in strong social organization processes.
6. They occur in areas where legal and illegal extractive activities are carried out, particularly mining. (p.60)
These correlations indicate the connection between the limited presence of the state, territories with some type of strategic position or resources, and the presence of armed groups. As a result, there is a constant struggle for order and control of resources, without considering the lifestyle and quality of life of the people who live in those territories.
Therefore, it is essential to consider what possible solutions are available to respond to these aggressions.
The state is the first actor that must ensure the safety of these community leaders and there are a lot of international organizations, academic circles, NGOs, and so on that constantly remind the government of its duty to protect these people. Although the state recognizes the high numbers of murdered and persecuted community leaders, the Colombian government has been slow and inefficient to respond to the situation, especially considering that as mentioned above, these deaths occur in regions with a weak state presence. According to Human Rights Watch (2021) “The government has deployed the military to many parts of the country but has failed simultaneously to strengthen the justice system and ensure adequate access to economic and educational opportunities and public services. The government’s inefficient responses to this problem hinder rather than eradicate these conflicts; excessive militarization in these places only increases the existing tension. Hence, these leaders need strategies that truly eliminate the problem at its root.
The following are some of the recommendations to the government made by different academic circles and organizations that could provide a more adequate response to this problem:
1. The most effective way to protect leaders is by investigating violations against these leaders: Conducting serious, independent, transparent, and timely investigations to identify the perpetrators and masterminds; to prosecute them and ensure adequate reparations to victims (IACHR, 2019).
2. Actively involve mayors and governors of municipalities and departments where this problem is critical in order to formulate public policies with a specific territorial approach (UNCaribe, 2020).
3. Authorities should ensure civil society groups and international human rights and humanitarian agencies participate meaningfully in that process. (Human Rights Watch, 2021)
By carrying out the recommendations above and the many others that not only national but also international organizations have been making for years, the Colombian government would ensure the integral well-being of these leaders and the communities they represent.
Although the state is the most important actor in this process of dignifying these leaders, we must not forget the important role that civil society also plays in this issue. Over the last few years, thousands of social stakeholders- NGOs, students, teachers, and politicians -have social media as a way of raising awareness of this issue, not only as a platform to make visible the abuses that these leaders have to suffer, but to call for social mobilization to support them. These social movements are having more and more impact on the decision-makers in the country, however, they still face great social challenges. In this sense, the national press plays an important role as it can shape the behavior and ideas of citizens. Sadly in Colombia, most of the media have only distorted the struggle of these leaders, on occasion stigmatizing the leaders as well as the people who also come out in protest to support them.
The involvement of citizens and the commitment of the media to provide clear and unbiased information are important bases for the non-repetition of these cases. As the report of Human Rights Watch, (2021) said “Authorities should ensure civil society groups and international human rights and humanitarian agencies participate meaningfully in that process”. Therefore, it should be the responsibility of the government to keep citizens informed of the projects that are being carried out in the regions, as well as encouraging every Colombian to become an active defender of the rights and guarantees of these leaders.
To conclude, the indifference experienced by community leaders in Colombia is increasingly alarming. Hence, the growing violence towards social leaders is overlooked by the state and a large part of society. The cases developed throughout this article reveal the dehumanization and stigmatization suffered by community leaders daily. Although the number of murders is increasing and diversifying over the years, many cases in Colombia remain unpunished and remain without a guarantee of non-repetition. Therefore, it is essential to emphasize that community leaders’ cases are not isolated events. The systematic violence against this group of leaders is located in territories such as Cauca, Córdoba, Buenaventura, Nariño, and Catatumbo, where the state presence has been scarce yet the armed groups have prevailed. Thus, it is in the hands of civil society and Colombian government institutions to transform the present and future of entire communities throughout the country. Yet this cannot happen without an empathetic society willing to work actively for such transformation.
*Article written by Geraldine Florez & Daniela Ladron de Guevara.
References
Avendaño, G. (2019, 30 Junio). ‘Hacemos como si María del Pilar Hurtado no hubiese vivido por acá’. EL TIEMPO https://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/otras-ciudades/hipotesis-sobre-el-asesinato-de-maria-del-pilar-hurtado-en-tierralta-cordoba-382198.
CINEP. (2018, 19 Diciembre ). What are the Patterns?- ¿Cuáles son los patrones? Asesinato de líderes sociales en el Post acuerdo. https://www.cinep.org.co/Home2/component/k2/655-informe-cuales-son-los-patrones-asesinato-de-lideres-sociales-en-el-post-acuerdo.html.
Human Rights Watch. (2021, 10 February). Left Undefended, Killings of Rights Defenders in Colombia’s Remote Communities. https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/02/10/left-undefended/killings-rights-defenders-colombias-remote-communities.
Human Rights Watch. (2019). Colombia events 2019. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/colombia#
INDEPAZ. (2018, 19 Noviembre). All the Names, All the Faces: Human Rights Report on Leaders and Defenders of Human Rights in the Territories. Action Report.
INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN. (2019, 6 December). Human Rights Defenders and social RIGHT. OEA. http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/ColombiaDefenders.pdf.
Miranda, B. (2019, 22 Junio). “María del Pilar Hurtado: el asesinato de una mujer frente a sus hijos que indigna a Colombia”. BBC/News. https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-48732381.
Trejos, L., y Badillo, R. (2020). Los cuatro conflictos del Caribe colombiano: balance de la confrontación armada durante el primer semestre del 2020. Barranquilla: Centro de Pensamiento UNCaribe, Universidad del Norte. https://www.uninorte.edu.co/documents/12067923/14752905/Los+cuatro+conflictos+del+Caribe+-+Informe+del+primer+semestre+(2020).pdf/6babd784-dec2-4b44-a1b5-d49b9c02de90
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