They denounce the assassination of two other leaders in Colombia | News

The Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz) of Colombia denounced on Thursday the murder of two social leaders, this time in the departments of Valle del Cauca and Nariño.

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“Helmer Luligo Restrepo was the current Commander of the San Antonio Volunteer Fire Department, in the municipality of Jamundí, Valle del Cauca. A well-known person in the community for his service work, ”the Colombian entity indicated about one of the murdered leaders.

The incident occurred when hitmen on motorcycles intercepted him around 08:00 (local time) in a rural area of ​​the Jamundí municipality.

According to the Ombudsman's Office and its early alert (AT) 015/20 and 019/23 for leaders and human rights defenders (DD.HH), "the risk scenario faced by people who are dedicated to the defense of human rights and social leadership individually or collectively”.

“The imposition of regulations and other forms of social control by armed groups mean a permanent risk of violating the rights of the population,” stressed Indepaz.

Among the groups that are present in the area, the entity pointed out the Jaime Martínez Front, the Adán Izquierdo Company, the Dagoberto Ramos Front of the Western Bloc-Central General Staff, the Gaitanista Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC), the National Liberation Army (ELN) , other local bands and the third Division of the Colombian Army.

Similarly, Jhonis Orfelio García, a recognized indigenous leader, member of the Guard, former governor and brother of the current governor of the El Palmar reservation in Ricaurte in Nariño, was assassinated.

With Jhonis Orfelio García there are 88 leaders assassinated in the year 2023, adding a total of 1,502 since the signing of the Peace Accords. Likewise, Indepaz pointed out that more details of this fact are still unknown.

On the other hand, on July 4, the indigenous Unit of the Awá People "Unipa", in relation to the presence of armed groups, stressed that "the systematic violence that we face as the Awá indigenous people continues to leave new victims in the territory , the consequences of a foreign war, which occurs between illegal armed groups that operate in the Pacific area of ​​Nariño; they have been claiming the lives of our comrades".