95 Massacres of Colombian Social Leaders Took Place in 2023

About 180 human rights defenders and 44 former FARC guerrillas were killed in the last year.

This week, the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ) reported about a massacre carried out in the Tabiles district by an armed group on Dec. 28, 2023.

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"Three adults and a minor were killed in a rural area of the municipality of Linares... They were kidnapped. Two days later, their bodies were found with gunshot wounds," it said.

Benildo Estupiñan, the secretary of government of Nariño, commented that the families had not immediately reported the murders for fear of reprisals.

One of the victims was a social leader from the Policarpa municipality, Martha Benavidez, who had traveled to the Linares municipality for the Christmas and New Year's celebration.

The text reads, "Colombia registered about 300 deaths in massacres during 2023."

Due to this event, Colombia closed the year 2023 with a total of 95 massacres, in which 180 human rights defenders were killed. Violence against social leaders continued into this year.

INDEPAZ pointed out that Giovanny Chavez, a former combatant of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was killed in the Cauca department on January 1st.

"To start the year with the assassination of Giovanny Chavez, a peace signatory, is very regrettable and concerning. In this new year, protective and security measures for signatories must be strengthened," said Pablo Catatumbo, a senator from the Commons Party, which emerged from the demobilization of the FARC.

Chavez was residing in the New Reincorporation Area Mari Alvarez, INDEPAZ commented, recalling that 44 former FARC guerrillas were killed in 2023.