Another FARC former guerrilla in the reincorporation process was murdered on Friday 3 April. According to the FARC political party, 194 former guerrillas have now been killed since the peace agreement was signed in November 2016.
Carlos Alberto Castillo was killed in the department of Tolima in central Colombia. Neighbours said at least five armed men took him from his home before executing him in nearby woods. Carlos lived with his wife who is also a former guerrilla.
In a tweet condemning the killing, the FARC said ‘the enemies of peace are those who pull the trigger, those who give the order and those who look away indifferently from this extermination’.
At least twenty FARC members have been killed so far in 2020, according to national human rights organisation INDEPAZ. Other recent cases include the deaths of Astrid Conde in Bogota on 3 March, Edwin Carrascal in Sucre on 10 March, couple Belle Carrillo Leal and Irnel Flores Fernal in Caquetá on 17 March and Juan Carlos Castillo in Putumayo on 30 March. Several trade unionists and social activists have also been murdered in recent weeks.
The United Nations has said that violence towards FARC members represents a major threat to the peace process. Most of the violence is concentrated in regions affected by structural poverty and the presence of various paramilitary and armed groups.