Violence continued to impact various regions during the month of July, as paramilitaries and other armed groups competed for territorial control and illicit economies, often bringing them into direct confrontation with local communities and former guerrillas in the peace process. Among the victims were women’s rights activists, at least one trade unionist and community council leaders. Ongoing conflict highlights the urgent need to ensure international support for peacebuilding initiatives such as the progressive government’s Total Peace strategy that seeks to reach agreements with armed groups through dialogue.
Here is JFC’s monthly update for July 2025 on the human rights situation in Colombia.
N.B. This article does not provide a definitive list of all human rights violations committed in Colombia. Various others are likely to have been committed during the period.
1 July – The bodies of eight social activists and religious leaders were discovered in a mass grave in the town of Calamar, department of Guaviare. Nixon Peñaloza Chacón, Carlos Valero and Oscar Hernández were among the victims, with the three men all current or former presidents of the JAC community council for the Aguabonita district. Church leader Maribel Silva and her husband Isaid Gómez were also killed, alongside Carlos Valero’s brother Jesús, Maryuri Hernández and James Caicedo. All were affiliated to the Evangelical Alliance Church and the Quadrangular Church. Several had previously relocated from the department of Arauca to Guaviare due to violence. Reports said that over 4-6 April the victims had been summoned to meet an armed group in the zone and had not returned.
2 July – Three men were found dead next to a road linking the cities of Riohacha, La Guajira department, with Valledupar, Cesar department. One of the victims was Jerson Andrei Sanguino, a former member of the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla movement who had provided testimony to the Attorney General’s Office. His bodyguard Boris Arandate was also killed, while the third victim was initially unidentified.
9 July – The body of former FARC guerrilla Giovanni Ordoñez Triana was found in Fusagasugá, Cundinamarca, two days after he had been reported missing. Is it the 26th murder of a former FARC member in the peace process since the start of 2025. A number of items of clothing and personal documents were found burned nearby.
10 July – Armed assailants killed three people inside a public establishment in Cartago, Valle del Cauca.
13 July – Indigenous leader William Gaitán was murdered in Puerto Gaitán, department of Meta. He coordinated healthcare services for residents of the Domo Planas community, where he had served as governor from 2012 to 2015.
14 July – Two former FARC guerrillas, Florilba Ramos Morano and Ferney Elago Caviche, were killed in Silvia, Cauca. They were based at the reincorporation zone Los Monos in Caldono and belonged to an avocado farming cooperative for former guerrillas. Armed assailants attacked Florilba and Ferney at the home they shared in Silvia.
14 July – Trade Unionist Yilber Carnaval was found dead in Miranda, Cauca, two days after he was reported missing. He was a member of the National Agro-industrial Sugarcane Workers Union SINTRAICAÑAZUCOL. At least 10 trade unionists have been murdered in 2025.
19 July – High levels of violence impacting Cauca continued with the murder of indigenous and women’s leader Aída Damaris Flor Camayo in the municipality of Morales. She was attacked inside her home in the Honduras reservation.
21 July – Yet more violence in Cauca saw the killing of Nasa indigenous leader Marcos Yonda, who was a spiritual authority in the Talaga territory. He is the 90th social activist murdered in 2025, with 24 cases committed in Cauca.
20 July – In Timaná, department of Huila, armed assailants attacked and killed three people who were driving through the town. The victims were named as Blanca Cecilia Correa, Karol Jimena Torres Guzmán and Antonio Duque.
21 July – Social leader Luis Eduardo Bohórquez was abducted in Guamocó, department of Bolívar. He was president of the JAC community council for Marizosa district, located in a mining zone. The CORPADES human rights organisation said he had been playing a key role in dialogues with National Park authorities over environmental protection.
22 July – Social activist Luis Fernando Mayorga Rodríguez was murdered in Bolívar, Cauca, where for the past three years he had served as JAC community council president in the district of Villa Nueva. Reports said witnesses had seen armed men abduct Luis Fernando, before gunshots were heard just a few minutes later. His body was found soon afterwards.
25 July – Indigenous human rights defender Fernanda Domicó was killed in Dabeiba, Antioquia. Fernanda was a trans woman and member of the local fire brigade. She had played an important role in promoting the rights of trans people and indigenous issues.
25 July – The week’s second massacre in Huila was committed in the municipality of La Plata. Reports said armed assailants arrived in the area in a 4×4 vehicle and on motorcycles, then proceeded to open fire on a group of people, killing four. Huila was previously one of Colombia’s more stable regions, but it has seen an uptick in violence recently.
26 July – In El Castillo, department of Meta, Rogelio Suns Díaz became the 29th former FARC guerrilla in the peace process to be killed in 2025. He was abducted by armed men while participating in a community assembly focused on a bridge construction. His body was found later that day.
29 July – Social activist Fabio Marín was killed in Valdivia, Antioquia. He was a member of the JAC community council for the district of Tesorito in a neighbouring municipality, Tarazá.