Ongoing violent instability in Colombia claimed the lives of community activists, trade unionists and indigenous leaders in March, with a number of women activists and children among the victims. Several former FARC guerrillas in the peace process were also killed, including on just one day, 2 March. Insecurity also forced former guerrillas and communities to leave their homes and seek safety elsewhere. In just the first three months of 2025, 45 social activists and 14 former guerrillas were killed.
Here is JFC’s monthly update for March 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 March – Nasa indigenous activist Edgar Tumiñá was murdered in Toribío, department of Cauca, where indigenous communities are facing alarming levels of violence. 48-year-old Edgar, widely known as ‘Tumi’, was a coordinator of the Toribío indigenous guard, which provides security to local communities, and was a prominent member of the Puerto Viejo reservation. His brother, Manuel Tumiñá, was murdered in 2014 over his indigenous rights activism. Cauca instability has increased since the expansion of armed groups in the region and the end of a ceasefire previously enacted between a faction of the EMC group and the government.
1 March – Three people were killed in Urrao, Antioquia, amid conflict for territorial control between rival armed groups. They were attacked while travelling by motorbike.
2 March – The 12th killing of a former FARC guerrilla since the start of 2025 was carried out in Arauquita, department of Arauca, in eastern Colombia. Danilo Benavides was based at the ETCR transitional zone Martin Villa, one of 24 special zones created in the 2016 peace agreement. Arauca has been severely impacted by violence as rival armed groups compete to control illegal economies such as coca production, contraband smuggling and other activities.
2 March – Former FARC member Faber Alexander Torres Martínez was murdered in San Juan de Arama, department of Meta, the day’s second killing of a former guerrilla in the peace process and the 13th case since the start of 2025. He was attacked inside a public establishment.
2 March – An extremely violent day for former FARC members culminated with the killing of Víctor Julio Jiménez in Yopal, department of Casanare. His death took the day’s total to three killings of former guerrillas in separate attacks.
3 March – Unknown assailants fired gunshots at the funeral procession of Edgar Tumiñá, murdered two days earlier in Toribío, Cauca, according to a warning from the Cauca Regional Indigenous Council (CRIC), the region’s main indigenous organisation. Nobody was reported injured.
3 March – Teacher trade unionist Martín Emilio Acevedo Quiceno was found dead in Caldas, Antioquia. An active member of the ADIDA union for Antioquia-based teachers, he had been reported missing two days earlier. It is the second killing of an ADIDA member in under a month, following the attack on Jorge Enrique Cano Jaramillo on 7 February. ADIDA is affiliated to the FECODE teachers’ federation, which works with British and Irish education unions through JFC. At least eight FECODE-affiliated trade unionists have been murdered since the start of 2024.
3 March – Social activist Ana Elcy Arteaga Camilo was murdered in Rosas, Cauca, where she was president of the JAC community council in the Paz de Azucar district. JAC council members are among the most violently targeted groups in Colombia.
3 March – Another JAC council president was murdered, the day’s second such killing. Lorenzo Rentería Arboleda was attacked in Juradó, department of Chocó, where he presided over the JAC in the district of Menor Mojaudó. Reports said he had recently received threats from an armed group.
6 March – Cultural and social activist Abel Martínez Barrios was murdered in San Onofre, department of Sucre. He was a renowned folk performer and dancer who ran environmental workshops for children and young people. 35-year-old Abel’s body was found a few hours after he was abducted from his home.
7 March – Members of an armed group entered the town of Andes, Antioquia, where they intimidated and threatened residents, according to warnings issued by human rights groups. A number of families reportedly left their homes to seek security elsewhere, with little sign of when they might be able to return.
9 March – Human rights defender Jaime Gallego was found dead, six days after being abducted near his home in Segovia, Antioquia, along with his bodyguard, Didier Berrío, who remained missing. Jaime was president of the Agro-Environmental Miners Committee of Northeast Antioquia, an organisation that represents small-scale miners in the region and which has coordinated strikes and mobilisations for fairer conditions and denounced police repression of mine workers. In 2023, Jaime stood as a candidate in local elections for the Historic Pact progressive coalition of President Gustavo Petro.
9 March – Awá indigenous leader Cristian Fernando Guanga was murdered in Tumaco, department of Nariño, where he was acting governor of the Piguambi Palangala reservation. The 24-year-old was attacked at the main entrance to the reservation at around 12.20pm. He had warned the Attorney General’s Office of threats to his life in 2023, and although he had received security measures, the UNIPA social organisation said these were insufficient to ensure protection. Nariño’s Awá communities have faced shocking levels of violence since the 2016 peace deal, with human rights groups registering 60 such killings. Furthermore, young community members are at high risk of forced recruitment into armed groups.
9 March – Five people were killed when armed assailants opened fire at patrons inside a public establishment in Ocaña, department of Norte de Santander. Among the dead was a woman and a minor.
12 March – In Guachené, Cauca, armed assailants attacked the vehicle in which political activist Neisair Ramos Navas was travelling, killing him and a 14-year-old girl, Sharick Macoli Gonzales Abonía, and injuring a woman and another girl, named respectively as Maryin Tatiana Abonía Angola and Sheydrek Nahomi Dorado Quintero. Sheydrek died in hospital on 27 March. Neisair was formerly the secretary to the local government under Elmer Abonía, who was murdered in 2023.
12 March – Social activist Ismael Borray was murdered in Cartagena de Chairá, Caquetá. He was JAC community council president for the district of Caño Santo Domingo. Armed assailants forced him out of his home before killing him.
12 March – A grenade attack killed three people in the Santa Fe neighbourhood of downtown Bogota, the latest violent incident involving local gangs vying to control drugs distribution and other illegal activity.
14 March – Teacher trade unionist Leidy Hoyos and her husband José Miguel Samboní were killed in Mercaderes, Cauca, as they returned to their home. They were attacked in front of their six-year-old daughter, who was unhurt, with reports that their motorcycle had been stolen in the incident. Leidy taught at La Planada rural school in El Rosario, department of Nariño, and was a member of the SIMANA trade union for Nariño-based educators. Unionised teachers continue to face alarming levels of violence in Colombia. The family had previously left their home and stationary business in Sucre, Cauca, after receiving threats there.
14 March – Human rights activist Diego Alexander Herrera Carranza was killed in Barrancabermeja, department of Santander, where he represented conflict victims.
15 March – Community leader Federico Hull Marín was murdered inside his home in Medellin’s Laureles neighbourhood. He worked for the city council in liaising with local communities.
16 March – Indigenous activist and youth worker Diandra Natalia Zamora was killed in Miraflores, department of Guaviare. She supported young people in the reservation of Tucán de Caño Giriza del Pueblo Siriano and was a coordinator in the Miraflores Association for Traditional Indigenous Authorities (ASATRIMIG), a community rights organisation.
17 March – Indigenous organisations, including the Caldas Indigenous Regional Council (CRIDIC), condemned threats against CRIDIC senior adviser Germán Herrera. In threats delivered via WhatsApp and telephone, unknown assailants claiming to belong to paramilitary organisations ordered Germán to leave the zone within two hours or be declared a military objective. It came five days after pamphlets from the same group threatened residents in the towns of Riosucio and Supía Caldas.
18 March – Seventy former FARC members and their families were forcibly displaced from Yondó, Antioquia, where they had established the settlement of Omaira Díaz, known as a New Area of Reincorporation (NAR), the term given to non-official communities founded by former guerrillas in the peace process. It came around five weeks after an armed group had entered the area and cut off internet services.
19 March – Four people were killed in Andes, Antioquia, where paramilitary successor groups have established a strong foothold. Armed assailants abducted four coffee growers from the plantation, known as La Amistad, where they worked and killed them shortly afterwards. At least three of the victims were Venezuelan.
19 March – The body of social activist Luis Alfonso Sánchez Barrera was found in Arauquita, Arauca, two months after he had ben reported missing on 19 January. Luis was a member of the JAC community council in the Lejanías district.
20 March – Community leader Dianys Valderrama Tuberquia was killed inside her home in Carepa, Antioquia, the 44th murder of a social activist in 2025. She was a member of the local JAC community council and of the Association of Provincial Producers and Peace (ASOPROVIPAZ).
27 March – Rural activist and community leader Alcides Castellanos was murdered in Palmira, Valle del Cauca, a municipality that JFC delegations have visited twice since 2023. He represented local families in claiming improved social conditions. Armed Assailants attacked Alcides at his home.
29 March – Indigenous organisations denounced a military incursion into the Path Yu reservation in Cajibío, Cauca. The Cauca Regional Indigenous Council (CRIC) said soldiers had opened fire and insulted community members. No reason was given for the incursion.