A sharp escalation in violence in the Catatumbo region of northeast Colombia meant that the year began with a significant rise in killings of former FARC guerrillas in the peace process, with cases elsewhere also contributing to the alarming figure of nine such cases this month, compared to 33 cases registered throughou the whole of 2024. Social activists, including peasant leaders, trade unionists and youth leaders, were also targeted during January. Many communities also faced displacement or confinement as armed groups fought one another and security forces in different regions.
Here is JFC’s monthly update for January 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 January – The first day of the year saw the first murder of a former FARC guerrilla in the peace process, following on from the 33 such cases recorded in 2024. William Alvarado Guzmán was attacked in Bellavista de Garzón, department of Huila. The 62-year-old was based at the official transition zone Agua Bonita in the neighbouring department of Caquetá. A 48-year-old man was arrested over William’s killing, the second recent such case of a former guerrilla based at Agua Bonita, following that of José Lenoir Guerrero Tovar, on 13 December. In June 2022, a JFC delegation of trade unionists and politicians visited Agua Bonita to learn about the experiences of former guerrillas in the peace process.
1 January – A threatening pamphlet, purportedly distributed by the AGC paramilitary group, labelled members of the CREDHOS human rights organisation and other local activists based in the Magdalena Medio region as a ‘military objective’. In a statement, CREDHOS said that ‘the threats occur amid an increase in victimising acts committed by various armed groups against the civilian population, as well as territorial control by the AGC paramilitary project in Magdalena Medio’. The AGC has repeatedly threatened CREDHOS, including in 2022 and 2024.
4 January – Elver Porfidio Cerón Chicunque, a former mayor of Mocoa, a town in the southern Putumayo department, was murdered inside his home along with a well-known musician, Andrés Fajardo. Elver had twice been elected mayor, as well as a congress member for Putumayo.
5 January – Former FARC member Wilmer Ruíz Delgado was killed in San Vicente del Caguán, Caquetá, the year’s second killing of a former guerrilla after only five days. Wilmer, who was 41, was attacked as he and his partner arrived at the home of a relative, with the assailant fleeing.
5 January – A senior indigenous leader, Adán Enevia Dovigama, was killed in Mistrató, department of Risaralda. 73-year-old Adán belonged to the Embera Chamí community of Bajo Humacas and was an indigenous guard. He was attacked inside his home during the evening.
8 January – Three males were killed and two others injured in an attack in the town of Albania, La Guajira department. The dead men were named as Iván De Armas Moreno, Aldair Mendoza Daza and Eduar Ojeda Hernández. It came a day after the ACSN paramilitary group, which has a strong presence in northern regions, purportedly published a social media video threatening to carry out armed activity in the area.
10 January – Armed assailants murdered a priest, Iván Darío García González, in the Zona Bananera in Colombia’s northern Magdalena department.
12 January – Three people were killed and another two injured in Cali, Colombia’s third-largest city. The dead victims were named as María del Mar Mosquera Panameño, Julián Esteban López López and Nohelia López Arena. The attack took place in the city’s Marroquin II neighbourhood.
13 January – At around 11pm, armed assailants killed three people travelling by vehicle on the road connecting the towns of Puerto Tejada and Candelaria in Valle del Cauca. The dead men were named as Miguel Nieva Sarria, Andrés Melo González and Carlos Mina Ramos.
14 January – At around 8pm, armed men entered a bar and killed two people, Diana Milena Ruiz and Jefrey Peña, in the city of Barrancabermeja’s Comuna 7 neighbourhood. A third person, Hernando Rondón Ordúz died later in hospital from injuries sustained in the attack.
15 January – Married couple Miguel López and Zulay Durán Pacheco and their baby son were killed as they travelled along the main road linking the northeastern city of Cucuta with the town of Tibu. The assailants were reportedly members of an armed group that is highly active in the zone. The incident was a catalyst in the violence that engulfed Catatumbo, the region where the attack took place, between 16 and 23 January.
16 January – The explosion of violence in Catatumbo claimed the lives of a number of former FARC members in the peace process, with at least four killed on the same day. In the municipality of El Tarra, Pedro Rodríguez Mejía was killed by armed assailants inside his home. In Convención, armed assailants killed two former guerrillas, Jhan Carlos Carvajalino Quintero and Jhon Freddy Carrascal García. The fourth victim was Albeiro Díaz Franco, who was attacked in the Teorama municipality. As former guerrillas, all four men were participating in the peace process at the ETCR transitional zone El Negro Eliécer Gaitán de Caño Indio. The shocking level of violence, with several other civilians also killed, threatened and attacked, led the government to enact a state of ‘interior commotion’ and deploy security forces to Catatumbo.
16 January – The killing of another former FARC member in the peace process, Sergio Vivas, was confirmed, six days after he had been abducted in the town of La Plata, department of Huila. He was of indigenous heritage and based mainly in the neighbouring Cauca department. Although ostensibly separate to the spate of targeted killings in Catatumbo, it further emphasises the extreme insecurity facing those in the peace process.
16 January – As well as former guerrillas, social activists have also been coming under attack in Catatumbo. In Convención, Carmelo Guerrero was fatally injured in the fighting. He belonged to the Catatumbo Peasant Unity Association (ASUNCAT) and was a member of the progressive Patriotic Union (UP) party, which experienced a state-led extermination campaign in the 1980s and 1990s that killed thousands of its members.
17 January – Trade unionist Jhony Alexander Córdoba was killed as he drove through the city of Cali, when two men on a motorbike opened fire at him. As president of the Trade Union for Camperos de Terrón Colorado (camperos are jeep-based transport in urban and rural zones), Jhony was leading a campaign to improve conditions and attain formal recognition for union members. His killing comes two months after that of another Cali-based trade union leader in the transport sector, William Molina, general secretary of the SINTRAL union for informally-employed transport workers, on 5 November.
17 January – Community leader Miller Ojeda was murdered in the northern city of Barranquilla, department of Atlantico. As a youth worker, he supported young conflict victims and their families and was also involved in municipal projects.
18 January – Human rights groups warned that, in addition to the four former FARC members killed in Catatumbo on 16 January, at least three had been abducted: José Enrique Urbina, Willinton Durán Franco and Yovany Plata. Another six were reported injured, identified as Erika Ramírez Álvarez, Karol Flórez, Salamón Vaca Rubio, Vicente Galvis and Maryuri Remolona Valencia, as well as 17-year-old Jeison Caballero.
18 January – Social activist Pedro María Ropero Delgado was killed amid the fighting between rival armed groups in Catatumbo. Pedro was a member of the ASOJUNTAS federation of JAC community councils and coordinated local crop substitution programmes to replace illicit coca plantations with legal alternatives under the terms of the 2016 peace agreement. Human rights groups that around 80 people overall had been killed in the violence that engulfed Catatumbo between 16 and 20 January.
18 January – In the city of Barrancabermeja, three people were killed in an attack on their vehicle. One of the victims was named as Renzon Silva Quintero, who was 34. INDEPAZ said it was the fifth massacre of 2025.
19 January – Two youth leaders and activists, Javier Alejandro Valencia and Juan David Ramírez, were killed in Quibdo, capital of the western Chocó region. Both were members of the Chicos Dance cultural and dance group, and were participating in a UNICEF-backed programme, Voices of Power, to develop youth leadership roles in marginalised Pacific communities and to promote peacebuilding and anti-violence strategies. The two were reported missing and found dead the following day.
20 January – Following the killing of Carmelo Guerrero on 16 January, another member of the ASUNCAT Catatumbo Peasant Unity Association was killed in Catatumbo. José Carrillo was attacked in El Tarra, where he was a social activist and belonged to the peasant guard movement to provide security for local communities.
20 January – Journalist and politician Oscar Gómez Agudelo was killed in the city of Armenia, Quindío department. He had previously represented Quindío in the national congress and had stood as a mayoral candidate. Most recently, he had hosted a radio programme entitled ‘Community for the Community’ on the regional Rumba del Café network. He was attacked outside the radio station’s building.
21 January – A fifth former FARC guerrilla based at the transitional zone El Negro Eliécer Gaitán de Caño Indio in Catatumbo was killed, following the deaths of four others on 16 January. Pedro Nel Angarita Ascanio was president of the locally-based Cooperative for Reincorporation and Peace (REINCORPAZ). Armed assailants reportedly targeted him as he worked collecting refuse.
21 January – Community leader Ricardo Cardona was fatally shot in Cali’s El Cortijo neighbourhood. He was a mediator in resolution of local disputes and conflicts.
24 January – Social activist Orlando Vesga Badillo was killed in the city of Bucaramanga, Santander. He was an adviser to JAC community councils in the city’s Comuna 4 neighbourhood, with over 30 years’ experience working in community organisation.
25 January – Two women and a man were found dead after reportedly being abducted in Yarumal, Antioquia. They were named as 38-year-old Alba Areiza Vera, Olga Moreno Vera, 20, and Jaiber Chavarría.
27 January – Yet another former FARC member was killed in Catatumbo, taking the total of such killings to nine already in 2025. Like the other Catatumbo victims, Disney Sánchez Contreras was based at the El Negro Eliécer Gaitán de Caño Indio transitional zone. He was attacked in the town of Convención. The rate of killings of former guerrillas in 2025 far exceeds that of 2024, when 33 such cases took place nationally during the entire year.
27 January – Armed assailants murdered Nasa indigenous leader Jose Albeiro Liz Muchicon at his home in Páez, department of Cauca, where indigenous communities have faced extreme violence since prior to the 2016 peace agreement. He was a traditional medical practitioner and elder in the U’sxa Guyumús (Togoima) territory. José Albeiro is already the 13th social activist murdered in 2025.
28 January – As communities in Catatumbo continued to face high levels of violence, the Catatumbo Peasant Association (ASCAMCAT) denounced threats made against three of its members, Lorena Camacho, Adonias Mantilla and Pedro Moreno, each of whom are presidents of local JAC community councils and prominent activists. Lorena is JAC president in the Filo de la Virgen district in El Tarra and a local spokesperson for community organising. Adonias is JAC president for Los Robles district and a well-known local activist, while Pedro presides over the JAC council in the 20 de Julio district and is a prominent organiser in the COCCAM association of coca farmers that supports their transition from illicit crops to legal alternatives. ASCAMCAT called on armed groups to respect agreements previously made with local communities. It also urged authorities to investigate the threats and ensure its members’ safety.
29 January – The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs reported that at least 611 Embera indigenous people from the Alto Sinú community had been displaced from their homes by violence, amid warnings that armed groups were seeking to forcibly recruit minors.
30 January – Social activist Clinton López Noguera was murdered alongside another person when an explosive device went off in Argelia, Cauca. Clinton was a JAC community council member in the Jardín Plateado district.