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Former union leader Nicodemus Luna Mosquera was shot dead near Dibulla, La Guajira, in November 2022.
*Article written by Isabella Auque, Natalia Castrillon & Maria Alejandra Celedon.
Over the years, Colombia has been a theatre of war with different armed actors who have unleashed this violence upon the lives of the civilian population. In recent times, this dynamic has been most evident in the wave of violence faced by social leaders. According to Ball (2018), a historical feature of the Colombian armed conflict, and its truces and transitions, has been the assassination of social leaders or human rights defenders, individuals who "act in favour of human rights as diverse as the right to life, food and water, the highest attainable standard of health, adequate housing, a name and nationality, education, freedom of movement and non-discrimination". Despite the fact that the country is a pioneer in recognising the need to protect social leaders with articles such as article 81 of Law 418, which proposes the creation of a protection programme for people whose lives, integrity, security or freedom are at risk due to political or ideological violence, there is still evidence of an almost systematic assassination of social leaders in the country. The Institute for Peace Development Studies (Indepaz) has produced an updated report on the numbers of massacres and assassinations of social leaders in the country, following the signing of the Peace Agreement, highlighting the criminal acts that have been recorded so far in each year. As of 2022, these reports stated that since the signing of the Peace Agreement between the National Government and the extinct FARC, 1,327 social leaders and signatories of the Agreement have been assassinated. The study was carried out between November 2016 and March 2022, leaving a chilling figure that should alert the authorities (this grim figure has risen to 1,505 as of the time of publication in July 2023). It is for this reason that the issue is hugely relevant today and it is vital to understand the human impact and stories behind each of those numbers; that is why we present in this article the specific case of Nicodemus Luna and his murder.
Nicodemus Luna Mosquera was a USO (The Workers' Trade Union, USO by its acronym in Spanish) trade unionist who was murdered on Saturday November 26th, 2022, in a village in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in the jurisdiction of Dibulla (La Guajira). According to El Heraldo report of his death, he had been in this department for about two months and had arrived with some family members from the Pacific coast, attracted by the possibility of a better way of life, as the intention was to stay in the region and work. Nicodemus, 73 years old, had been a councillor in Tibú in Norte de Santander and had been a USO leader for many years. He was also one of the most persecuted Colombian trade unionists for his dealings with labour processes and complaints to companies such as Ecopetrol. Ecopetrol is a mixed economy company, as part of its capital is private and the other part public, which participates in all the processes of the oil and gas sector, from the exploration of hydrocarbons to the commercialization of fuels derived from crude oil in the markets of Colombia and the world. Despite the commotion caused by his sudden assassination, to this day the perpetrators are unknown. However, there has been much speculation over who bears responsibility for this crime, which has been attributed to paramilitary groups operating in the region. According to Colombia Informa (2020), there is a possible alliance between companies and paramilitaries as a method of "cleansing" to assassinate social leaders. According to this report, Ecopetrol had in the past allegedly given money to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC right-wing paramilitaries) in exchange for security. While there is no clear evidence of a link of the murder to the work of Nicodemus as a trade union activist, given the history of violence towards union workers in Colombia, such a possibility cannot be discounted.
The issue of violence against union activists and human rights defenders is a long-standing problem both in La Guajira and throughout Colombia. It is a problem that affects labor activists fighting for workers' rights and social justice in the country. According to statistics from the Human Rights System of the National Trade Union School (Equal Times), between 1971 and 2021, 3,288 union activists were murdered in Colombia. To give just two names in amongst all this carnage, university union workers Gloria Mendoza and Maria Elena Mendiga were shot dead at the entrance to the Universidad del Valle in Cali on February 22nd, 2023 (WOLA). As mentioned earlier, in recent years, there has been a wave of violence directed towards social leaders in Colombia, with union activists among them. Social leaders also include communal leaders, environmental defenders and indigenous activists, among other profiles. Just like Nicodemus, Aura Esther Garcia Peñalver, was another activist who was assassinated in La Guajira, with Aura being shot dead at the entrance to her home on March 31st, 2021. Aura was an active member of the non-profit indigenous organization "Nación Wayúu", which is committed to the defense of human rights. She was specifically working on denouncing the inadequate management of children's resources in relation to the school feeding plan. As a woman leader and activist, she had to face many threats and was more likely to be targeted by those who did not want to see changes occur in the community. The Colombian Commission of Jurists has denounced numerous cases of murders, threats or forced disappearances of social and union leaders in La Guajira in recent years, such as the one mentioned above. The Commission has noted that the situation in La Guajira is of special concern due to the presence of mining companies, which have been a source of conflict over the environmental and territorial rights of local communities. It is essential that Colombian authorities adopt effective measures to provide protection for human rights defenders and trade union leaders in La Guajira and throughout the country. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the preservation of human rights is fundamental to ensuring peace and security in Colombia, and it is the responsibility of the State to guarantee that human rights activists can carry out their work without concern about possible retaliation.
In the face of such violence, it is necessary to assess what is being done to address this serious problem. When it comes to the Colombian government, they have implemented certain efforts to mitigate the number of social leaders who become victims of violence and murder in the country. One measure adopted by the national government was to increase by 38% the budget that is destined for the protection of more than 3,500 social leaders and human rights defenders. However, it seems that even with this added investment, there are still leaders who cannot access protection. For example, Aura Ester Garcia Peñalver had requested protection but it had not been granted in time. In another recent case, journalist Rafael Moreno, based in Cordoba in the Caribbean region of Colombia, had been granted protection but it had been removed by the time he was shot dead in October 2022. Cristina Cantillo, a trans activist in the city of Santa Marta, was shot dead in her home in December 2021 after her protection had dropped her home. Beyond these limitations of the protection services available, there are other obstacles that make finding a solution difficult. It is clear for the government that these cases occur for the most part in rural areas where there is a strong presence of criminal groups such as drug traffickers; the very same areas where the Colombian State has traditionally had a very weak presence. It becomes evident, therefore, that state control in certain regions of Colombia is scarce, to the extent of being even nonexistent. In that regard, violence propelled towards social leaders and human rights defenders is a problem that can be solved to a great extent, by the government’s engagement in the country’s economy, politics and overall presence in both rural and urban areas of the territory.
In conclusion, Colombia has long faced a problem of violence against social leaders and human rights activists, with La Guajira being one of the most heavily affected areas because of conflicts between armed groups and the social and environmental impacts caused by mining companies and other stakeholders in the region. Regardless of the presence of protection programs, there is still evidence of systematic assassinations of social leaders in the country. The murder of Nicodemus Luna Mosquera and other social leaders highlights the State's neglect of their safety and protection, as well as the need for effective measures to ensure the protection of human rights defenders and union leaders in Colombia. While the government has implemented some efforts to mitigate the problem, it is clear that state control in certain regions is weak and low, and violence against social leaders can only be solved through government participation in the country's economy, politics and by establishing a true presence in rural and urban areas of the territory.
Referencies
Ball, P. D., Garavito, C. A. R., & Ángel, V. R. (2018). Asesinatos de líderes sociales en Colombia en 2016-2017: una estimación del universo. Bogotá: Dejusticia.
Fayad, D. S. (2014). Petróleo y conflicto armado en Colombia: el caso de Arauca entre 1984 y 1992. Bogotá, Colombia.
https://www.wola.org/2023/03/condemning-murder-two-female-union-members-cali/
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