High levels of violence affected several regions of Colombia throughout September, taking 2024’s toll to more than 120 killings of social activists and 50 massacres. Members of JAC community councils were particularly targeted, as well as indigenous communities and former guerrillas in the peace process.
Here is JFC’s monthly update for September 2024 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 – The United Nations human rights office condemned social media threats and abuse towards 15-year-old environmental activist Francisco Javier Vera Manzanares, who is a well-known campaigner in Colombia. Francisco’s profile has made him a target of far-right groups and anonymous accounts. In 2019, at the age of 10, he addressed Colombia’s congress to call for guarantees over the environment and human rights and has continued to campaign since.
2 September – Social organisation the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) issued an alert over what it called ‘systematic attacks against the Indigenous Guard, traditional authorities and residents [that are] evidence of the extermination policy against indigenous people’. Communities in north Cauca face very high levels of violence from armed groups. Recent cases documented by the CRIC include killings and the kidnapping of a local activist and his family, as well as ongoing stigmatisations from armed groups that community members are linked to rival groups. The CRIC called for public caution around publications making false claims on social media.
4 September – An armed group known as the Caparrapos purportedly left graffiti around the town of Caucasia, Antioquia, intimidating residents from carrying out their daily essential activities.
4 September – Fighting between the army and an armed group was putting local residents at grave risk in Silvia, Cauca. Human rights activists warned that some fighters were using residents as human shields by taking refuge in their homes without permission and forcing others to abandon the zone.
4 September – Ethnic Kogui indigenous leader Daniel Nolavita was abducted in the Sierra Nevada mountains as he carried our agricultural work close to the town of Ciénaga, Magdalena. His partner was also taken but released soon afterwards. Two main paramilitary-successor groups active in the region, the Gulf Clan and the ACSN, both denied responsibility for Daniel’s abduction.
8 September – Three people were killed in Soledad, Atlántico, in the 46th massacre registered in Colombia in 2024. Armed assailants entered a home and opened fire at the people inside, killing 39-year-old Neber Harnández Sierra and Kevin Lora Camargo. A third man, 38-year-old Rafael Tovar Céspedes, died shortly afterwards from his injuries.
8 September – The day’s second massacre claimed a shocking 12 lives in López de Micay, Cauca. The seven men and five women were killed when armed assailants opened fire in a public establishment. Several armed groups are active in the zone, which is close to the port city of Buenaventura, a strategic location for drugs trafficking and other illicit activities. Some reports suggested the incident could have been the result of fighting between rival groups.
9 September – Community activist and musician Jermín Luis Padilla Valdez was killed in María La Baja, department of Bolívar. As a rapper an activist, he promoted the traditional Palenque culture of African-Colombian populations through music and organised tours of the local area. He was stabbed while socialising with friends. According to INDEPAZ, Jermín is the 117th activist murdered this year.
12 September – Three people were confirmed killed in Ciénaga de Oro, department of Córdoba. One of the victims, cattle farmer Estebán Urueta, had been reported as missing previously. The other two worked for Estebán and were named as Fredys Manuel Beleño and Gerardo de los Santos.
14 September – In San José de Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, armed assailants attacked a vehicle transporting five people, killing Venezuelan cattle farmer Miguel Osorio, his 14-year-old son Luis Guillermo and bodyguard Ulises José Gelvéz. Two girls in the car were injured but survived.
15 September – An armed group kidnapped town councillor Sandra Betancourt in Argelia, Cauca. Colombia’s National Ombudsman was among those calling for her release.
19 September – Rural activist Luis Ordulio Ramón was found dead in Saravena, Arauca. He was a committee member of the Association of Cacao Growers and member of the JAC community council in the town of Cubará, department of Boyacá. He had been missing since being abducted from his Boyacá farm on 12 August.
22 September – Arhuaca indigenous leader Julio Zalabata Luque was murdered in Pueblo Bello, department of Cesar. The well-known 72-year-old was a traditional indigenous authority and played an important community role in promoting peace.
23 September – Community leader Edwin Polanco survived an attack in Cajibío, Cauca. Edwin is JAC community council president in the local district of Carmelo. He was taken to a hospital in the Cauca capital Popayán for urgent medical care.
24 September – Another JAC community council president, Heber Rivera Méndez, was killed in Tuluá, Valle del Cauca. He oversaw the JAC in the district of Venús.
24 September – Community leader Didier Alexander Vargas Guerrero was murdered in Arauquita, Arauca. He coordinated sports and cultural activities through the JAC community council in the district of El Progreso in Puerto Rondón. He had previously been a victim of forced displacement and confinement.
25 September – Three people were abducted by suspected paramilitaries in Remedios, Antioquia. It was the group’s latest act of intimidation against local residents, where it has exercised control over an extended period.
29 September – Social activist Roxenda Sanguino was found dead in Barranco de Loba, Bolívar, after going missing the previous day. She was JAC council president in the district of Buenos Aires.
30 September – Former FARC guerrilla José Ernesto Caicedo Verdecia, who was 38, was murdered in Riohacha, La Guajira, along with 25-year-old Luisa Fernanda Guerrero Vuelvas. Armed assailants attacked them as they were travelling in a taxi along the Riohacha’s Los Estudiantes Avenue. José was involved in the reincorporation process at Los Pondores, one of the 24 special zones created under the terms of the peace agreement. More than 420 former guerrillas have been killed since entering the peace process in late 2016.
30 September – Colombia’s 50th massacre of 2024 claimed the lives of five people in Yondó, Antioquia. The victims were riding motorbikes through a rural area when they were attacked by armed assailants. They included three members of the JAC community council in the district of Lejanía, council president Lisímaco Samudio, secretary Johana Sepúlveda and vice-president Jhon Freddy Pérez.