Colombia: peasant human rights defender assassinated

On March 15, Jhonny Hurtado, 59, president of the local Human Rights Committee in the community of La Catalina, La Macarena municipality, Meta department, was killed while working in outlying fields. Witnesses said he fled when he heard gunfire, and was shot while running. The independent Human Rights Commission of the Bajo Ariari zone said in a statement: “There is fear throughout the region of the Río Guayabero, because the zone is militarized, and military unites…have threatened social leaders and human rights defenders.” (DH Colombia, March 16)

It is not known whether the attack was carried out by the army or paramilitaries

See our last post on Colombia.

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