Another FARC member was killed on Wednesday 25 September, taking the number of murdered former guerrillas to at least 142 since the peace agreement was signed in November 2016. 55-year-old Carlos Celimo Iter was shot dead in Caloto in the southern region of Cauca, which has seen higher levels of violence against social activists and former guerrillas than anywhere else in the country.
According to human rights organisations working in the region, Carlos had previously requested security measures from the National Protection Unit, the state body charged with protecting at-risk individuals. Authorities said they did not know who was behind the crime. Several paramilitary and other armed groups are active in Cauca due to its strategic importance in drugs trafficking and other illegal activity.
Carlos was president of regional human rights organisation the Multiactive Cooperative of Victims of the Armed Conflict, which had coordinated productive projects for former guerrillas in the reincorporation process and supported them in educational training.
In addition to the 142 murdered FARC members, more than 500 social activists have been killed since the peace agreement was signed. The United Nations has said repeatedly that full implementation of the agreement is the most effective means to tackle the escalation in violence.