Colombia: Urgent Updates, November 2024

On this page you will find the latest updates on Colombia and the current security situation as of November 2024. WOLA is closely monitoring the situation in collaboration with communities and partners, and we will continue to update this page as new information becomes available.

Afro-Colombian community in danger of losing their homeland (Cauca)

In November 2024, the Afrorenacer del Micay community council will de facto lose its rights to its territories, which will be destroyed by a massive development project it did not agree to. On July 25, 2024, the National Land Agency of Colombia recognized the claims of the “Afrorenacer del Micay” Community Council for 28,417 hectares in the Micay Canyon, Department of Cauca. Since March 2020, dissident FARC-EP factions (Carlos Patinho, Dagoberto Ramos and Jaime Martínez fronts) have been killing community leaders and internally displaced residents. After the legal owners of the land were evicted, foreign rural farmers and community councils unrelated to the Afrorenacer del Micay Community Council took over. As a result, unregulated illegal mining has increased, leading to deforestation and water pollution, threatening the environment and community health. This replacement of ancestral ethnic power by outsiders is a strategy used by dissident guerrillas to seize territories for the illicit economy. Despite the legal objections of the Civic Council, the exploitation of natural resources continues.

The proposed large-scale development project of the Arrieros del Micay dam further violated the rights of the Civic Council by using the media to legitimize the usurpers by calling them stakeholders. This dam project will completely take over the ancestral lands of the Afrorenacer Micay Community Council. It advances by displacing communities, killing leaders, and depriving rightful owners of the process of free, prior, and informed consent. While the legitimate community has obtained a court order confirming their right to require precautionary measures to be taken on this land, the Colombian national authorities have failed to comply. National and international authorities must step in to ensure that this does not happen. In addition to land rights, this practice will result in the destruction of the culture and practices of this community and the natural environment.

An indigenous ethnopedagogue was killed in Solano (Kaketa).

On November 3, 2024, the Institute for the Study of Development and Peace (Str.Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la PazINDEPAZ) reported that Darwin Falla Teteye, a recognized ethno-educator from the Uitoto community, was found dead. It happened in the indigenous community of Los Estrejos, located in the municipality of Solano, department of Caquet. Falla Teteye worked at the Fortunato Really Educational Institution of the Puerto Sabalo Los Monos Indigenous Reserve in Murui Muina. The Colombian Ombudsman’s office issued an early warning – AT 011/22, which concerns Solano, and –AT 019/23 for leaders, management and human rights defenders. They are at high risk of harm due to the imposition of rules by illegal armed groups and their social control over the civilian population. Illegal militias present in Solano include the Carolina Ramírez Front (Carolina Ramirez del Bloc Amazonas Manuel Marulanda Velez), Front 62 of Jorge Briseño Suárez FARC Bloc (Front 62 Rodrigo Cadete del Bloque Jorge Suarez Briseño) and the sixth division of the Colombian army.

Human rights ombudsman kidnapped and killed in Cumbitar (Narinho)

November 5, 2024 Institute for the Study of Development and Peace (Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la PazINDEPAZ) reported that the ombudsman of Cumbitar, department of Nariño Jimmy Alejandro Rosero Chavez was kidnapped and killed. Rosero Chávez was meeting with members of the community, representatives of the ESE municipality and liaison with the victims when unknown persons forcibly took him away in a truck. The incident took place in the village of Las Piedras in the rural area of ​​Cumbitara. The ombudsman’s body was later found in the Puente Rojo area. The Colombian Ombudsman’s office issued an early warning AT 008/24 for Cumbitar, El Rosario, Leyva, Policarpa and Taminango (Narinho). It talks about the security risks to the civilian population as illegal armed groups compete for control of these areas. It is about the groups EMC “Franco Benavides Front”, “Southern Comuneros Front” ELN (Frente Comuneros del Sur), the Second Marketalia and the self-proclaimed United Self-Defense Forces of Nariño (AUN). The Armed Forces of Colombia and other local criminal groups also operate in these areas.

A community leader was killed in Barrancabermech (Santander).

On November 6, 2024, the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz, INDEPAZ) reported that assassins killed Rodolfo Enrique Rivera Tarazona, vice president of the Social Action Council of La Bendición de Dios Settlement in Barrancabermeja, Santander Department. The Office of the Ombudsman of Colombia previously issued an early warning AT 027/22 for the municipalities of Yondo (Antioquia), Barrancabermeja, Puerto Vilches and Cimacota (Santander). It warned that civilians were at risk due to ongoing disputes between the Gulf Clan (Clan del Golfo), the National Liberation Army (ELN) and organized crime groups. These conflicts are related to the control of drug trafficking networks and other illegal activities, including extortion, arms trafficking and fuel theft. Armed groups present in Barrancabermeja include the Persian Gulf Clan (AGC), the ELN, other local criminal groups, and the Second Division of the Colombian Army.