Main findings: Political violence against Colombian leaders

Photo: latina.com.ar
MISIÓN DE OBSERVACIÓN ELECTORAL
(MOE) REPORT WARNS OF THE INCREASE
IN LETHAL VIOLENCE AGAINST SOCIAL,
POLITICAL AND community
LEADERS OF COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA,
A COUNTRY TORMENTED BY VIOLENCE
REPORT ON VIOLENCE AGAINST
POLITICAL, SOCIAL
AND COMMUNAL LEADERS
Photo:
Fundación, paz y reconciliación
A great part of Colombia’s history has been
immersed in an internal armed conflict,
where its recent protagonists have been
guerrilla and paramilitary groups financed
by drug trafficking money and in combat with
state forces. Since 1990, more than 6 peace
agreements have been signed with armed
groups of different ideological tendencies.
The most recent agreement was signed in
November 2016 between President Juan
Manuel Santos and the oldest guerrilla of the
continent, the Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia- FARC.
The implementation of the current Peace
Agreement was envisioned as the milestone
from which the country would end a conflict
of more than half a century, and that peace
in the territories and the communities would
be accompanied by the expansion of regional
democracy. Despite the promising future that
it implied for Colombian society and, mainly,
for the victims of the war, displays of violence
continue to increase in the country. These
predominantly affect outermost regions that
continue to endure the absence of the State,
especially, social, political and communal
leaders committed with peace building and
reconciliation.
The Misión de Observación
Electoral (MOE-Colombia, a
non-governmental organization
of Colombian civil society
that since 2006 has been
monitoring both the exercise
and the transmission of political
power), presents the followup
report to the first half of
2020 on violence against social,
political and communal leaders,
in the scenario of a pandemic.
As a result of the research,
evidence indicates that different
local leaders continue to be
victims of threats, kidnappings,
disappearances, assassination
attempts and murders, due
to their social, political and
communal work, in defense
of human rights, and their
participation in the democratic
scene.
Alejandra Barrios Cabrera,
Director of the MOE, states
that “this report shows us the
humanitarian tragedy that occurs
in many regions of the country,
where local leaders continue to
be systematically victims of acts
of violence by different armed
groups and other groups that
have not been identified yet,
representing diverse economic,
political, social or environmental
interests”. She also pointed out
that “if urgent measures are
not adopted for both individual
and collective protection, we
will be left without democratic
leadership in Colombia.”
For this research, a social
leader is understood to be any
person who plays a role of
leadership and representation
through formal or informal
organizations on issues
such as the protection of the
environment, LGBTIQ rights,
territories, ethnic traditions and
communities, among others.
Political leaders are defined as
former candidates, candidates
or pre-candidates for positions
of popular election; current and
former elected public officials;
high officials of the State and
control entities; political leaders
and leaders of parties, political
movements and significant
groups of citizens, including
informal leaders who take an
active part in political life.
As for communal leaders,
according to the MOE, are
those who head the Community
Action Boards (JAC), the basic
cell of Colombian democracy,
elected by popular vote, as well
as the candidates and former
candidates for these elections.

The report published by MOE concludes that
in the period between January and June
2020 there were 248 acts of violence against
social, political and communal leaders, of
which 81 were murders.
In the same order, the report
reveals the alarming situation
that female leaders encounter
in the country. In this respect,
the document concludes that
since 2016 the number of attacks
against women leaders have
increased constantly. In the
first half of 2020 the increase
was 18.8% compared to the
same period in 2019. Threats
are the most recurrent act of
violence against women in a
position of leadership, resorting
to stereotypes and symbolisms
that extend the impact to their
families and close ones.
Despite the fact that during
the month and a half that
strict confinement measures
were decreed by the National
Government (equal to 25% of the
total duration of the semester)
there was a significant reduction
(of 50%) in the number of violent
events, this did not offset the
overall incidence of violence for
the entire period.
Regarding the participation
of armed groups of diverse
origins and with objectives yet
to be determined, the Director
of the MOE, Alejandra Barrios,
declares that “it is necessary
for the authorities to investigate
the attacks against leaders.
We cannot continue to justify
everything as a consequence
of the armed conflict and not
conduct full investigations to
punish those responsible for the
tragedies we observed in the
territories.”
The leaders that had the
greatest impact during the
period under study were social
leaders, concentrating
50% of the attacks. For every
two leaders attacked during
the first six months of this
year, one was a social leader.
Photo:
semanarutal.com
The second most affected
type of leadership, according
to the MOE report, were
political leaders, with 89
violent acts registered.
The main form of violence
against these leaders are
threats, which accounted for
60.7% of the total attacks.
As for communal leaders,
these were victims of 35
acts of violence, of which
60% were lethal. 46% of
these events occurred in
rural sectors where the
main problems are due to
inequality, poverty and the
lack of opportunities for their
citizens. This situation is
exacerbated by the presence
of armed groups.
Ethnic leadership in Colombia
is also at risk. The MOE
report found that 58% of
the acts of violence against
Afro-Colombian social leaders
were lethal, while in the
case of indigenous leaders
the lethality reached 70%.

Map of areas with the highest number
of acts of violence against political,
social and community leaders
A COUNTRY WITHOUT LEADERS
IS NO COUNTRY AT ALL
The areas highlighted by
the report as concentrating
a greater number of acts
of violence against social,
political, and community
leaders were the
Caribbean region, where
the departments of Cesar,
Córdoba, and La Guajira
accounted for 45% of the
acts of violence in the entire
region; the Catatumbo region
since it is a strategic point
for the illegal arms trade,
migrants, smuggling, drug
trafficking, and the transit of
illegal actors to Venezuela;
the pacific region with the
department of Cauca at
the head, which has the
greatest number of acts of
violence in the country and
has the presence of illegal
armed groups such as the
ELN and dissidents from
the FARC. Finally, there is
the department of Antioquia,
in the northwest of the
country, in which there were
acts of violence in 11 of its
municipalities.
In the report, MOE presents a
series of recommendations
aimed at the collective
protection of leaders in
Colombia, the strengthening
of institutions and the
institutional commitment
to not allow these worrying
events to go unpunished.
The violence against these
leaders aims not only
to end the lives of their
protagonists, but also to
stymie the processes that
arise from the communities
that persist in working in
favor of development and a
stable and lasting peace. The
increase in violence against
leaders, mainly social
and communal leaders in
Colombia, shows that there
are dark intentions that
seek to silence the voices
of those who worked to fill
the gaps that the State has
been leaving throughout its
history.

For more information:
Juana Callejas
Telephone: (+1) 57 3188113565
Email: Comunicacionescolombia@nimd.org
https://moe.org.co/