The reality of social leaders in Colombia: the case of Fredman Herazo Padilla.

Cultural leader Fredman Herazo whose murder provoked outrage & frustration in his community of San Basilio de Palenque.

The killing of human rights defenders, former combatants and social leaders of communities devastated by decades of conflict remains the most serious threat to peace and human rights in Colombia. This remains the same 5 years since the signing of the Peace Agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces in 2016. Without any doubt, this historical agreement marked a fundamental milestone in terms of protection for the life and conditions of remote communities; the number of homicides related to the armed conflict even decreased significantly during negotiations and immediately after the signing of the agreement. However, implementation issues, rearmed forces and the presence of other armed groups in the most affected regions have brought new threats for human rights defenders and community activists, referred to in Colombia as social leaders. This is often because of disputes over territory and land resources. Recently, the threats have become more significant and most of the Colombian population have identified the importance of preserving the actions and protecting the lives of social leaders in all national territory as a matter of urgency. Sadly, the ideal of defending the rights of their communities and developing concrete actions in favor of a common purpose has been blurred by a latent conflict that threatens the defense, promotion, respect and protection of human rights as their principal purpose.

One of the most painful cases that has been presented in this wave of violence against social leaders, and one which caught the attention of the entire nation, was the heinous murder of the emblematic lawyer, advisor on Afro legislation and cultural leader Fredman Arturo Herazo Padilla. His work was widely recognized in his hometown, San Basilio de Palenque (Bólivar), for his huge interest in the growth and preservation of the culture, language and traditions of this ancestral Afro-Colombian community, and also for being an important member of the Ma Kankamaná Community Council (El Espectador). After his painful assasination, El Heraldo (2021) mentioned that Fredman had become the first leader murdered in the Caribbean region in 2021; another charitable soul who came to this world with a clear mission, to serve, but who saw his light extinguished at the hands of hitmen in La Apartada, Córdoba, in the early morning of January 15, 2021.

Relatives of Fredman informed the press that he had been in the department to do advisory work for community councils of Afro origin, work that he had performed in several territories of the Colombian Caribbean and on its Pacific Coast. But also, his family expressed that he had not been threatened, especially because Fredman’s work was always focused on cultural activities, far away from the common issues that receive the attention of criminal groups. While the Colombian National Police continue to investigate this murder, which appears to have been carried out by the criminal organization of Clan del Glofo in an act of mistrust towards the legal advisory Fredman was offering in the territory; the Afro community of his native San Basilio, many cultural organizations, senators and even the Minister of Culture have repudiated the murder of Fredman and have also declared a desire to preserve his legacy; the legacy of a brave man who fought his entire life for the promotion of Afro-Colombian culture and investigated the history of his people, whom he also supported as legal advisor. Such figures should be celebrated in our country, not mourned.

Undoubtedly, Fredman left a huge legacy for the residents of San Basilio. Although he is no longer physically in his native township, his story and legacy remains present in the hearts of those who had the opportunity to meet him and spend time in his company. Tomás Teheran, native of the region and a close friend of Fredman stated that: “He was an excellent person and leader who had as family all the people of San Basilio (…); Fredman created a feeling of pride when he started to exalt the language of Palenque and his murder was not expected by any of us”. Similarly, Danilo, a resident and friend of the deceased, said: “What stands out most about Fredman was his vocation of service. He was a person who was very dedicated to the communities. The news of his murder fell on the whole community like a bucket of cold water”. Nowadays, Fredman´s case pitifully makes part of the huge amount of murders against social leaders that happens weekly in Colombia and which affects the lives and causes of not just the social leaders, but also the families and communities to which they belong and for whose benefit they work. As can be seen by the testimonies included above, the murder of Fredman came as a huge shock to his community as he was a cherished member of the community and known as a man of peace. In order to understand this terrible crime, it is necessary to explore the context in the department of Córdoba, where this heinous act was committed.

Córdoba has been one of the most affected territories by the historical dynamics of the armed conflict in Colombia. Because of its wide access to the sea through its coastline, fluvial mobility offered by the Sinú River and because it connects the Caribbean region with the central part of the country, this department has had a constant presence of various illegal armed groups disputing territorial control since the mid-twentieth century. According to the Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular (Cinep) (2017), the systematic seizure of thousands of hectares of land and the distribution of property in the region are related to the configuration of regional powers in this forgotten territory. The issue of land is complicated further by the historic presence in the department of several illegal groups.

In addition, over the last twenty years, violence has increased as a result of drug trafficking. This is because many of the drug transport routes pass through Córdoba and have historically been controlled by paramilitary groups, especially in the Nudo del Paramillo zone which is hugely strategic in the development of the trafficking routes. Despite the demobilization of paramilitary groups between 2002 and 2006, the armed structures that were part of the AUC group are now diversified and remain active in the department. Chief among these is the Clan del Golfo, a criminal organization that achieved its expansion through an intense work of agreements and alliances with former members and partnerships with various local and regional organized crime structures. According to the organization Ideas para la Paz (2017), this criminal organization is currently one of the most important trafficking business chains in the national context, and has more than 1.900 members, with a constant presence in more than 107 municipalities. This group is the dominant power in the department of Córdoba and consequently is held responsible for much of the violence towards social leaders along with rival organisation the Caparros.

Cordoba is the most dangerous department for social leaders and human rights defenders in the Caribbean region. With this constant presence in the territory, several social leaders have warned about the consolidation of these groups, as their presence and number has increased and social control over rural populations has been established. Yet the response of the local and state government is negligent given the conflictive dynamics in this area. In retaliation for their actions on behalf of their communities, according to the Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz, or INDEPAZ (2021), 4 communal leaders have been killed in the department between January and September of 2021. This is just a fraction of the 46 social leaders that were murdered between 2016 and 2020 in the department of Córdoba, making it the deadliest department for social leaders in the Caribbean region, and one of the deadliest in the country.

As it is well known, Colombia’s conflictive situation has left millions of victims over the years, with the civilian population and human rights defenders being heavily affected. According to Amnesty International (2020), the primary victims continue to be members of rural communities where control of territories formerly dominated by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is disputed. This has led to the forced displacement of thousands of people, sexual violence and gender-based violence, several victims of targeted killings and many other critical events that position Colombia as the most dangerous country in the world for human rights defenders; those seeking to improve conditions in affected areas through their activism (Amnesty International, 2020). The official statistics speak for themselves. In accordance with the official information presented by Indepaz (2020), since the signing of the peace agreement between the government and the FARC-EP until 15 july 2020, 971 social leaders and human rights defenders had been killed in the country. In addition to the analysis, many of these leaders, like Fredman, were Afro-descendants; 81 of whom were murdered between 24 November 2016 and 13 August 2020 (Indepaz, 2020). More recent data is not reassuring, as so far in 2021 at least 163 social leaders, human rights defenders and agreement signatories have been assassinated across the country, 7 of whom being Afro-descendant activists (Indepaz, 2021). With a situation as serious as this, one must analyse the measures being taken to address this wave of violence.

In this context, many of the measures taken by the government to increase the protection of social leaders and human rights defenders have not had satisfactory outcomes. For example, despite the fact that the peace agreement in Colombia included initiatives to prevent killings of human rights defenders, those crimes have increased as other armed groups have sought to fill the power vacuum left by the FARC (as can be seen in the context of the south of Córdoba), warring for control over territory for illegal activities like coca production (Human Rights Watch, 2021). Thus, the problem lies in the lack of state presence and the lack of will on behalf of the authorities to exercise control over certain parts of the country. Because of this, many international and national bodies have offered recommendations to address this problem. For instance, the OHCHR has said that it is essential to increase the presence of the Ombudsman’s Office in the areas most affected by violence, in order to allow other government agencies to operate there; likewise, the High Council for Human Rights of the Presidency stated that it is essential to advance projects aiming to understand the roots of violence (La República, 2021). Also, the European Union urges Colombia to implement more visible, swift and transparent justice in order to reduce the perception of impunity in society. There have also been recommendations from the Comisión de la Verdad, which proposes to avoid stigmatisation and to implement a government-led security and prevention strategy to identify the masterminds of the crimes (La República, 2021). The Colombian government should stop focusing so much on militarisation of these regions and try to invest more in measures to bring education, state infrastructure and humanitarian work to these forgotten communities of the national territory.

In conclusion, it is more than clear that social activism has long been a dangerous vocation in Colombia and Fredman is one of the many victims of this constant bloodshed in the country. His voice, like that of many other activists, has been cruelly silenced for being interpreted as an obstacle in the way of the interests of the main actors of the conflict and those involved in profit seeking. It is worrying that, despite having a peace agreement in place, which is supposed to improve the critical situation of violence in the territory, the people and communities who deserve so much better, continue to be the most affected. Leaders like Fredman, concerned with improving the conditions of their environment, deserve to be protected and not forgotten by their own government. Colombia needs real change. It needs to end the legacy of chaos and danger and start preserving the work of those who seek true peace; it must take care of the heritage of those who really stand up every day for a better country, and in honour of those leaders who are no longer here.

*Article researched and written by Camila Avila & Santiago Bertel

REFERENCES 

Amnesty International. (2020). Everything you need to know about human rights in Colombia 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/americas/south-america/colombia/report-colombia/

Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular. (2017). Especial: Córdoba, entre memorias del conflicto y acciones de paz. Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://www.cinep.org.co/Home2/component/k2/478-especial-cordoba-entre-memorias-del-conflicto-y-acciones-de-paz.html

Editorial La República S.A.S. (2021, February 10). ¿Qué puede hacer Colombia para enfrentar la violencia contra los líderes? Diario La República. https://www.larepublica.co/especiales/lideres-sociales-en-colombia/que-puede-hacer-colombia-para-enfrentar-la-violencia-contra-los-lideres-3123675

El Espectador. (2021). Fredman Herazo, líder social afro, fue asesinado en La Apartada, Córdoba. Retrieved Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://www.elespectador.com/colombia/mas-regiones/fredman-herazo-lider-social-afro-fue-asesinado-en-la-apartada-cordoba-article/

El Heraldo. (2021). Reportan al primer líder social asesinado en el Caribe en el 2021. Retrieved Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://www.elheraldo.co/judicial/reportan-primer-lider-social-asesinado-en-el-caribe-en-el-2021-787606

González, L. (2020, August 13). Líderes afrodescendientes asesinados – Indepaz. Indepaz. http://www.indepaz.org.co/lideres-afrodescendientes-asesinados/

Left Undefended. (2021, February 12). Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/02/10/left-undefended/killings-rights-defenders-colombias-remote-communities

Indepaz (2020). Informe especial: Registro de líderes y defensores de DD.HH asesinados desde la firma del acuerdo de paz. Retrieved October 2, 2021, from http://www.indepaz.org.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Informe-Especial-Asesinato-lideres-sociales-Nov2016-Jul2020-Indepaz.pdf

Indepaz. (2021). Líderes sociales, defensores de DD.HH. y firmantes de acuerdo asesinados en 2021. Retrieved Retrieved October 2, 2021, from http://www.indepaz.org.co/lideres-sociales-y-defensores-de-derechos-humanos-asesinados-en-2021/

Ideas para la Paz. (2017). Crimen organizado y saboteadores armados en tiempos de transición. Retrieved Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://cdn.ideaspaz.org/media/website/document/59b2f3940f71c.pdf

Special Jurisdiction for Peace. (2021). JEP warns that 2021 has been the most violent start of a year since the signing of the peace agreement. Retrieved October 2, 2021, from https://www.wola.org/2021/02/colombia-begins-2021-alarming-records-violence-urgent-action/