Colombia, the story behind the assassination of a social leader that shows the ravages of war

The body of a social leader murdered in Colombia was found a day after his wife denounced (through a video) that he had been kidnapped by armed men in the Tame municipality, in the department of Arauca, where violence has intensified since the beginning of the year.

The murder of Hermán Naranjo Quintero, a social leader affiliated with the Community Action Board of Corocito, was confirmed by the Ombudsman’s Office, which published on its Twitter account that the previous day he had been «held by illegal armed groups» in a rural area of that municipality.

The kidnapping of the social leader was reported by his wife, Edalid Carrillo, in a video that circulated on the social networks. In her distressing account, she stated that some people had just taken her partner. «We ask that you please respect his life», she said.

«We have nothing to do with this war, we are just workers and he is a merchant», added Castillo, who was accompanied by a teenager and a little girl.

In the short video recording, she stated that her husband suffered from diabetes and asked the Ombudsman’s Office and human rights organizations for help «so that he can come home again».

According to the registry of the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz), which also reported on this murder on its social network account, Naranjo Quintero is the sixteenth social leader killed so far this year.

The illegal retention of the social fighter had also been denounced by the Peace Commission of the Colombian Senate, which had moved to Arauca earlier this week, where it held a session together with the Attorney General’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office.

Colombia and the rampant violence in Arauca

During their visit, the senators spoke about the increase in violence in the area and public bodies collected testimonies about the massive displacement in the municipalities of Arauquita, Fortul, Tame and Saravena, where clashes between illegal armed groups have been recorded, since the beginning of the year, have already left at least 66 people murdered and 1,200 displaced.

For the Colombian Ombudsman, what happened in Arauca is a «humanitarian crisis» and a «worrying panorama» generated by the armed confrontation between the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) and the dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In addition, he recalled that all the municipalities in that department have a «risk warning» due to the presence of these armed groups.

According to its balance, 51 ex-combatants in the reincorporation process were displaced in Arauca and 130 families from the Macaguán indigenous community were confined, in the El Vigía reservation, in Arauquita. Similarly, 344 former FARC guerrillas declared themselves in confinement and there is a risk that the same thing will happen to 319 indigenous families.

For his part, the Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, ratified his «vehement call» for International Humanitarian Law to be applied and the civilian population to be protected. «It is important that the entire institutionality of the State turn its eyes and its actions to Arauca», he added.