The Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz), of Colombia, denounced this Friday the murder of another social leader in the municipality of Guacarí, Valle del Cauca department, bringing the total to 22 leaders killed so far in 2022 .
This is Juan Carlos Jaramillo, who worked as a community leader in the district of Guabas, and who, according to Indepaz, was killed by armed assassins around 9:00 p.m. local time.
Those who attacked him with firearms while he was riding his motorcycle in the neighborhood of El Sol, to establish 1,308 leaders who have been victims of homicide since the signing of the peace agreements in 2016.
Although the Ombudsman’s Office had not issued early warnings in the municipality of Guacarí, central zone of the Valle del Cauca department, in the area there is the presence and transit of armed factions involved in territorial control and as a consequence of their acts there have been threats , selective assassinations and restrictions on mobility.
The escalation of violence does not stop in Colombia, and according to data provided by Indepaz in the current year there have also been 19 massacres, four homicides of ex-combatants, and more than 210 selective homicides.
To which are added nearly 100 death threats, more than fifty homicide attempts, and nearly 30 episodes of harassment, among other incidents of a violent nature.
As part of this climate of violence that exists in the South American country in the past year, 96 massacres were also committed, leaving 338 fatalities; and 171 women leaders and human rights defenders were assassinated.