2019 killings of activists in Colombian Caribbean region already equals 2018 total

The first eight months of 2019 saw as many social activists killed in Colombia’s Caribbean region as during the whole of the previous year, according to findings from the University of the North (Universidad del Norte), which is based in the city of Barranquilla.

Eighteen social activists were killed up to the end of August, matching the 2018 figure. The Caribbean regions most affected were the departments of Córdoba, with seven murders, and Bolívar, with five. Three people were killed in Magdalena, and one each in Cesar, Sucre and La Guajira. Paramilitaries were behind the majority of killings, said the university.

Hundreds of social activists, community leaders and trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia since the peace agreement was signed in November 2016.

Among the documented killings in the Caribbean region this year were:

3 July: Tatiana Posso killed in El Copey, Cesar and Manuel Osuna killed in San José de Uré, Córdoba

26 June: Manuel González killed in Montelíbano, Córdoba

21 June: Maria del Pilar Hurtado killed in Tierralta, Córdoba

6 June: Julian Quiñones killed in Coveñas, Sucre

30 May: Luis Joaquín Trujillo killed in Quebrada del Sol, Magdalena

23 May: Jader Polo, Jader Pertuz and Luis Fernando Velásquez killed in San José de Uré, Córdoba

11 May: Wilmer Carvajalino killed in Morales, Bolívar

7 May: Belisario Arciniéga killed in Morales, Bolívar

19 February: José Ceballos killed in Riohacha, La Guajira

31 January: Jorge Castrillón killed in San José De Uré, Córdoba

27 January: Alberto Santos killed in Río Viejo, Bolívar

15 January: Víctor Trujillo killed in Montecristo, Bolívar

5 January: Maritza Quiróz killed in Santa Marta, Magdalena