Community leaders, youth activists and former FARC members in the peace process were among the victims of ongoing violence in diverse regions of Colombia throughout September, with the total number of social activists killed in 2025 surpassing 150. The progressive government has taken steps to address the instability by implementing security mechanisms and pursuing peace negotiations with armed groups. However, in some cases, resolution remains a way off and fighting between armed groups is exacting a heavy toll on civilians. This demonstrates the urgent need for international actors, including foreign governments, the United Nations and the labour movement, to continue supporting all efforts towards advancing peacebuilding initiatives in Colombia.
Here is JFC’s monthly update for September 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 September – Social activist Leonel Imbachi was murdered in Balboa, department of Cauca, where he was president of the JAC community council for the San Francisco district. Balboa and surrounding areas are subject to a government alert due to the presence of armed groups that are competing to control illicit activities. JAC council members face particularly high levels of violence over their community influence and social roles.
1 September – Armed assailants attacked an indigenous meeting in Toribío, Cauca, where community leaders were addressing issues of human rights and social protections in the local area. Indigenous authorities said that four armed men arrived on motorcycles and opened fire on the house in which the meeting was taking place. Nobody was reported injured.
2 September – Former FARC guerrilla Jhon Fader Santiago Galvis was killed in Cocorná, department of Antioquia, the 31st such killing of 2025. His body was discovered with gunshot wounds next to a river. He was taking part in the reincorporation process in Cocorná, having previously been based at the Martín Villa formal transitional zone in Arauca, eastern Colombia. Paramilitary groups and local gangs are active around Cocorná.
3 September – Environmental and peasant leader María Mariela Monsalve Tobón was killed in Ituango, Antioquia, where she was renowned for her organising around land rights for rural communities, as well as their human rights. She was reportedly killed inside her home, amid accusations by human rights group CORPADES that soldiers were responsible. María had previously worked as an educator and was a mother.
3 September – Community leader Daniel Niño was killed in Sácama, department of Casanare. He was a former councillor and subsequently an employee of the council, as well as a member of the Río Pauto Peasant Farmer Association.
5 September – Three people were injured when a drone dropped explosives on a house in Jamundí, department of Valle del Cauca.
7 September – Three people died in an attack carried out on a public establishment in San José de Cúcuta, department of Norte de Santander. Two of the victims were named as Heiner Jeshiel Rolón Caballero and Fabián Miranda Cañas. Several armed groups are active in and around Cúcuta due to its strategic proximity on the border with Venezuela.
7 September – An indigenous activist was abducted by members of an armed group in the town of Inzá, Cauca, before a group of community members intercepted the group and secured his release. The Juan Tama indigenous organisation warned that the incident demonstrated the ‘physical, cultural and governability extermination or our people’ in the zone.
8 September – Social activist Luis Fernando Sánchez Caicedo was killed in Mosquera, department of Nariño, where he was well-known for his work with young people and communities, particularly among African-Colombian populations and peasant farmers, in support of peace and human rights. He had worked with the INDEPAZ NGO for over 15 years. Reports said that, as Luis Fernando travelled by boat with Mosquera mayor Karen Pineda, they came under fire, killing Luis Fernando and injuring a bodyguard.
9 September – Three people were found dead in Santa Catalina, department of Bolivar. They were named as Luis Fernando Chávez Daza, Luis Fernando Meza Aldana and Haissar Junior Natera Echeverry.
10 September – Former FARC guerrilla Carlos Andrés Jurado Rodríguez was murdered in Valle del Guamuez, department of Putumayo. At around 2pm, he was attacked by armed men who shot him four times. He is the 32nd former guerrilla in the peace process to be murdered in 2025.
10 September – Human rights defender Laura Enid Guzmán Macías was killed in Sucre, Cauca, where she was renowned for her community activism. She was attacked along with her husband, who survived, as they were travelling home.
10 September – A violent day continued with the killing of social leader Germán Roso in Puerto Salgar, department of Cundinamarca. He organised peasant farmers over land rights, including claims for restitution by victims of forced displacement.
11 September – Teenage activist Alan Valencia was killed in the city of Buenaventura, where he was a social organiser and member of the Black Community Council of Plata Bahía Málaga. The 17-year-old was an engineering student at the University of the Pacific and a keen footballer. He was also training in social roles at Siempreviva community school.
12 September – Human rights groups denounced threats made by an armed group to the Sisma Mujer organisation, which represents women victims of conflict and peace activists.
12 September – Former FARC guerrilla Raúl Javier Garzón López was murdered in front of his family in Rosas, Cauca, where he was participating in the reincorporation process.
12 September – Members of the Cauca Indigenous Regional Council (CRIC), the main indigenous body in the department of Cauca, were intercepted and threatened by armed assailants on the road linking the towns of Inzá and Popayán. The victims were held for several hours and only released the next day after raising the alarm.
14 September – Social activist Enyer Nieves, a committee member of the CORDORBERXIA organisation, survived an attack that saw gunshots fired at his vehicle as he left a human rights meeting in San José de Uré, department of Cordobá.
14 September – Three people were killed in a bar in Popayán, the capital of Cauca department. They were named as Daniel Samboní Valverde, Orlando Cuscue Guacas and Carlos Mosquera Vernaza. Reports said they were attacked following an argument between two men.
15 September – An official at the National Ombudsman’s Office, Óscar Eduardo Jordán, was abducted in Caloto, Cauca.
18 September – Three men were killed in an attack in the city of Cali, Valle del Cauca. Two of them were named as Brandon Asdrúbal Castrillón Medina and Daniel Esteban Freire Martínez.
19 September – In Ginebra, Valle del Cauca, armed assailants forced several people from their home, transported them to a nearby area and attacked them, killing Yilber Adrián López, who was 46 years old, Pablo Auce, 27, and 16-year-old Jhoan López Díaz. Jhoan’s twin brother Johan was injured but survived.
21 September – The year’s 34th killing of a former FARC guerrilla, identified as Crisanto Cetina Guarín, was committed on the main road linking the towns of Tame and Puerto Rondón, Arauca department. He was based at the region’s ETCR transitional zone Martín Villa, one of 24 formal zones created in the 2016 peace agreement.
22 September – Social activist and lawyer Oscar Becerra Aguirre was murdered in Cali, where he was JAC community council president in the San Luis district. He also represented a local taxi drivers’ association in legal disputes and other issues.
23 September – The United Nations Office of Human Rights warned that armed groups were posing severe risks to rural communities in the departments of Huila and Caquetá. According to a spokesperson residents were ‘deprived of their liberties to give opinions or move around in the territory’ and faced ‘threats, homicides and distrust to denounce [this] to authorities’. The office warned that social leaders had been declared as ‘military targets’ by the groups, which were monitoring movement and telephone calls. It also said there had been a rise in cases of forced recruitment of minors, particularly girls, by armed groups that were openly visible outside schools.
23 September – Youth worker and activist Yeimar Gamboa Yépez was killed in Chigorodó, Antioquia, where he coordinated reconciliation activities and provided support to vulnerable young people. He was shot while gathered with friends.
27 September – The year’s 150th murder of a social activist saw armed assailants attack Luis Ernesto Sanchez in Tenerife, Valle del Cauca, where he was an educator and youth worker. He provided technological workshops aimed to protect young people from recruitment by armed groups.
27 September – Social activist Juan Carlos Agudelo was murdered in Arauquita, Arauca department. He had previously served in the mayor’s office and stood in mayoral elections. He was also a volunteer firefighter.
28 September – In Balboa, Cauca, armed assailants killed Cristian Arnovio Valencia. He belonged to the national executive of the COCCAM coca farmers association, which supports peasant communities dependent on illicit crops for economic survival. He was also a member of social organisation the Campesino Movement for Territory, Life and Peace.
28 September – Two men entered a public establishment and opened fire on the people inside, killing three, in the town of Palestina, Huila. The dead men were named as Jonathan Edinson Correa Abasolo, who was 28, 53-year-old Eliacid Cuaji Mazabel and Rodrigo Celis Vargas, 39. Eight more people were injured.