*The articles in this blog space were written by students of International Relations English 7 as part of their work towards the "La Libertad Sublime" campaign; this social media campaign aims to provide information and raise awareness regarding the killing of social leaders and human rights defenders in the Caribbean region.

Colombia is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful countries in the world, as it has a natural wealth that is home to an incredible biological diversity and a majestic culture. Its population is characterized by being kind, loving and attentive. Colombia was considered in 2017 by the World Happiness Report as one of the countries with the highest happiness indexes, occupying the second place. Likewise, it was selected by Lonely Planet, which is one of the largest publishers of travel guides in the world, as one of the ten best destinations to visit in 2017. In spite of all these positive characteristics, Colombia has a very negative side because it continues to have the shadow of violence and conflict.  This is reflected in the fact that the national territory has become a dangerous place to develop certain types of work, particularly related to social leaders working in defense of human rights. According to the UN; a human rights defender is one who is recognized by his or her community for conducting, coordinating or supporting processes of a collective nature that impact their communities in a positive way in order to dignify the living conditions of the members of those groups (OHCHR, 2020).

Social leaders who watch over the fulfillment of human rights, promote development, defend the environment, fight against illegal economies, and promote citizen participation among other actions, have been victims of assassinations throughout Colombian history, but this work has become more dangerous than ever in recent years. According to INDEPAZ; a Colombian institute specialized in conflict, development and peace, at least 850 social leaders have been killed between 2016 and 2019. This number continues to increase and the absence of the Colombian State persists in many places of the country. Furthemore, this situation includes the fact that the work of social leaders is so frequently stigmatized and not given the attention it deserves. The scourge of violence against social leaders has greatly affected the Colombian Caribbean coast, including the department of Cesar. This department not only struggles with the presence of armed groups, illicit crops, corruption and poverty but also has to deal with the multiple murders of human right defenders who just want to change the internal dynamics of the department. One of these murdered leaders from Cesar is Luis Carlos Hernández Santiago, who worked with the victims of the armed conflict, led several land restitution projects and was recognized for his community work. He was killed on December 12, 2019 and unfortunately the crime remains unpunished.

The goal of this article is to demonstrate the dynamics and context that the country faces in relation to the situation of social leaders. To achieve this, the particular story of social leader Luis Carlos Hernández Santiago will be communicated and analyzed. All this will hopefully help to represent how Colombian territory is still a victim of conflict, violence and a lack of respect for the right to life with the objective being to raise awareness in society and try to make a small contribution to improving the situation.

Luis Carlos Hernández Santiago was a social leader from the municipality of Curumaní, in the center of the department of Cesar. Luis Carlos was 42 years old and was an active member and also a representative of the departmental board of victims participation. Luis was in charge of supporting displaced victims of the Colombian armed conflict, providing them the necessary tools for reparation, attention and non-repetition of all atrocities committed by armed groups. According to Victor Hugo Mosquera, director of the Cesar victims unit, Luis Carlos was a leader, collaborator and defender of the members of the departmental board (Diario del Cesar, 2019). In addition, he was candidate for the municipal council of Curumaní in the 2019 elections and was leading several land restitution projects. He was also coordinating issues related to the substitution of illicit crops in the context of the implementation of the peace agreement in the region. This last project consisted of giving special treatment to those on the lowest of the drug trafficking chain, the coca growers, by promoting the voluntary substitution of illicit crops in order to transform the department of Cesar. Likewise, Luis Carlos supported projects related to the call for strengthening the presence of the state in Cesar.

One of the biggest projects Luis Carlos Hernandez was involved in was linked to the improvement of the lives of people who suffered violence in that territory, by offering assistance via legal avenues. On the other hand, he was developing a diverse plan of action to change the quality of life for victims of the conflict which consisted of access to educational services so that these people could acquire new work skills. Luis Carlos had the desire to contribute to his community and help turn his region into a more dignified territory because he had also been a victim of violence many years ago. His younger brother was brutally murdered during a confrontation of illegal groups in Cesar. As can be seen, Luis Carlos was doing a great job in his community, a situation that put him at risk as his work represented an obstacle for the interests of various illegal sectors in the region.

According to the newspaper El Heraldo, on Thursday, December 12 2019, Luis Carlos Hernández left his home in the municipality of Curumaní and went to the village of Los Ranchos in the sector of the Serranía del Perijá. Luis Carlos was attending a meeting which had been scheduled by telephone and he was accompanied by his brother -in- law. Shortly after arriving at the village, they were intercepted by some armed subjects who were all dressed in black and who shot at them. Luis Carlos died immediately, while the person accompanying him was wounded in the neck and managed to go to the hospital and tell the authorities what had happened. The body of Luis Carlos was removed the next day when the police and the army arrived, as this area is difficult to access based on its topography and given the risk due to the presence of armed groups. A report from the departmental Ombudsman’s office stated that Luis Carlos had received death threats, but that he had refused police protection and that he had rejected these preventive measures (Caracol News, 2019). Nevertheless, representatives from the municipal town rejected these statements and pointed out that Luis Carlos had been requesting guarantees of protection from the Ombudsman’s Office in Valledupar, but that the security scheme had never been put into effect and that the only thing he had been given was instructions not to mobilize in some sectors.

For its part, the municipal authorities of Curumaní offered in December 2019, a reward of 15 million Colombian pesos to clarify the causes of the murder of the social leader and identify the perpetrators of this crime (RPT news, 2019). Likewise, the community of the municipality of Curumaní held a peaceful protest in December, with the hope that this type of situation would not be repeated. Today, almost six months later, the crime is still unpunished and the situation in the department of Cesar remains unchanged. To understand as deeply as possible the causes of the death of Luis Carlos Hernández Santiago, it is very important and necessary to refer to the context, the characteristics and the dynamics presented in the department of Cesar and in many other territories throughout the country.

Cesar is located in the northwest of Colombia and is one of the thirty-two departments that make up the country. It borders La Guajira and Magdalena to the north; Bolívar, Santander and Norte de Santander to the south; and Norte de Santander and Venezuela to the east. Geographically, it is divided into six zones: the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the Serranía de Perijá, the Complejo cenagoso de Zapatosa, the Valle del río del César, the Valle del río Ariguaní and the Valle del Magdalena (Governación de César, n.d.). Regarding the economic and social development of the department, the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) presented a report in which multidimensional poverty is calculated by municipalities based on the information of the National Population and Housing Census (CNPV) of 2018. This report showed that 25 of the municipalities of the department of Cesar exceed the national average of multidimensional poverty of 2018, which was 19,6%, and in some cases, even doubling it (El Pilón, 2020). 

Historically, the department of Cesar has been immersed in a climate of violence generated by the presence of illegal groups such as the FARC, ELN, EPL, AGC, and paramilitaries, as well as drug traffickers and the so-called “BACRIM” (criminal gangs formed by former paramilitaries). Likewise, according to a publication by the Silla Vacía (2018), Luis Fernando Trejos, a political scientist from the region, states that the Northeastern War Front (ELN guerrilla group) continues to operate in the south of the department, concentrating specifically on municipalities where there are hectares of coca such as Aguachica, Curumaní, Gamarra, La Gloria and Pelaya. In accordance with this, local authorities point out that Curumani, a municipality located near to the Serranía del Perijá and where the murder of Luis Carlos took place, is considered as a high-risk sector due to the presence of these groups. This corresponds to a number of factors that encourage atrocious crimes against social leaders. In this sense, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2020) points out that:

Of the 108 killings documented by OHCHR, 75 per cent occurred in rural areas; 86 per cent in municipalities with a multidimensional poverty index above the national average; 91 per cent in municipalities where the homicide rate indicates the existence of endemic violence; and 98 per cent in municipalities with the presence of illicit economies and ELN, other violent groups and criminal groups.

In this vein, Luis Carlos Hernández sought to address this situation and generate positive change in his municipality by coordinating projects related to illicit crop substitution in the context of the post-agreement. 

In addition to these factors, there is corruption, clientelism and the lack of institutional presence in the department. In the particular case of corruption, OHCHR (2020) received information about possible cases involving members of the police and army in Amazonas, Antioquia, Caquetá, Chocó, Cauca, Cesar, La Guajira, Magdalena, Nariño, Huila, Putumayo and Valle del Cauca. In addition, OHCHR notes that these situations may affect the effectiveness of measures taken against the ELN, criminal groups and other violent groups. In that sense, when one takes into consideration the possible involvement of members of the police and army in illegal practices, the vulnerability of leaders like Luis Carlos becomes even more evident.

Unfortunately the context which condemned Luis Carlos is reflected in several parts of the region and the country. Cesar is not the only department that has been affected by the murder of social leaders. In other departments, that is to say, in different geographical contexts, there are similar cases of murders of social leaders who were working on similar projects.

There are other cases that share similar characteristics to that of Luis Carlos Hernandez. For example there is the case of Hernán Antonio Bermúdez Arévalo, a social leader born in Riohacha (in the department of La Guajira), who was murdered in 2019 at the age of 56 by two men on a bike. Hernan Bermudez, just like Luis Carlos Hernandez, led the process of restitution of land to groups of peasants, and he also was a member of the Community Council of Afro-descendants. Elsewhere, there is also the case of Jorge Luis Betancourt, a 42-year-old social leader from Montelíbano, Córdoba. He was carrying out a land restitution project in Montelíbano and he was killed by men who shot him in his house. Jorge also worked as a peasant leader and was the president of the Community Action Board in the village of San Francisco del Rayo. Finally, it is important to mention the case of Luis Darío Rodríguez Narvaez, a farmer and fisherman. He was murdered in January 2020 by unknown men on a motorcycle. That murder represented the 39th case of deaths of social leaders in the department of Córdoba since 2016. Luis Darío belonged to the Unión de Familias Desplazadas y Vulnerables de Tierralta (Union of Displaced and Vulnerable Families of Tierralta) and had previously denounced the threats against his life, after becoming involved in the process of restitution of land to displaced people.

In this sense, it can be observed that although the contexts are different and these leaders are not part of the same geographical areas, they are still similar cases, where the common denominator is the work related to land restitution. And this, is no coincidence, according to the Foundation “Forging Futures” cited in El Espectador (2019), a report determined that “the departments with the greatest aggressions against human rights defenders are also the regions where there is “minimal progress” in land restitution”. Therefore, it can be said that in these cases, the practices and actions of violence are focused on people fighting for the processes of land restitution and construction.  In addition, with regard  to the spatial issue, there is also a correlation between violations of the right to life and voting in the 2016 Plebiscite for Peace. According to a study by CCJ, I., & Cinep, U. N. (2018) there is a “correlation between municipalities that voted YES and critical municipalities in terms of violations of the right to life”. Such is the case of Riohacha, Curumaní, Montelibano, and Tierralta with 62.55%, 59.21%, 58.17%, and 69.76% respectively in favor of the YES vote. It is important to highlight that land restitution is linked to the peace process. Although in these cases it has not been determined where the order to kill these leaders has come from and that they may be different actors in each case, the message is the same: the restitution of land is being resisted by powerful interest groups.

All of this, is affected by another critical point to understand: the fact that the Colombian State, due to a lack of political will or capacity, has not fully complied with its commitment to guarantee security and the exercise of human rights with the people  in these areas. 

Finally, much more importance and attention needs to be given to this type of work because it is necessary in the current situation that our country is experiencing, given that the number of deaths of social leaders is increasing daily and we do not have a positive response from the government to control this situation. In order to improve the current panorama and change it definitively, it is important that the Colombian government has a real interest in addressing this problem, to find effective and radical solutions to eliminate the systematic violation of human rights in the country. Instead of stigmatizing them, it is necessary to recognize the importance of the positive work of social leaders in those communities where the State does not have a presence, and to ensure that carrying out their work does not constitute a serious danger to their own lives. These types of atrocities highlight that there is still a power vacuum in these rural areas and the lack of state control in these forgotten territories is still evident. With that in mind, it is imperative to make visible a problem that affects the most vulnerable and marginalized sectors of society, and once again shows the massive violation of human rights that exists in Colombia under different practices. It is vitally important to keep this type of case in the lens and give it the importance it deserves. It is a way of denouncing this type of violation that generates so much damage, and in the same way it serves to show Colombian society the hard situation of violence that is lived in the bowels of the country. Until the national government takes action and takes into account everything that is happening in the country, the murders will continue to occur more and more, and democratic participation will remain only an ideal rather than a reality for many within Colombia.

*Article written by Luis Porras, Sofia Martinez, Nayelis Melendez & Yuliana Martinez

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