On the 14th of March 2022 ACIN counselor Miller Correa Vásquez – Consejero Mayor de la Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca (ACIN) – was killed. The indigenous social leader’s lifeless body was reported abandoned outside Lomas de Granada neighbourhood, on the exit to El Tambo, Cauca, Colombia.

This Joint Statement is signed by ABColombia and other members of the Espacio para Cooperación para la Paz (ECP) expressing our deep concern at the killing of Miller Correa, Consejero Mayor de la Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca (ACIN) and calling for a full investigation into his death and the bringing to justice of those responsible.

ABColombia was very pleased to see that the Irish and British Embassies have signed a similar statement along with other European Embassies and the UN. See HERE the statement in Spanish.

The situation in Colombia in respect to the killing of indigenous leaders and human rights defenders is particularly concerning, and with the presidential elections in May it is very likely that the situation of increased violence will provide an opportunity for further killings.

The paramilitary Black Eagles Southwest Bloc have claimed responsibility for the killing of Miller Correa in a leaflet while named other social leaders as their next targets. The flyer, published on ACIN’s Twitter account on March 26 2022, threatens specific civil society leaders and Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in Cauca.

The Asociación de Cabildos Indígenas del Norte del Cauca is calling the Colombian government for urgent protection of their leaders. Only eight before his assassination, Thuthenas Miller Correa’s name appeared on a leaflet with a death threat signed by Black Eagles Bloc of South West Colombia.

ABColombia continues to believe that the functioning of the National Commission on Security Guarantees and strong support for the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) representatives on this commission is the way forward. This Commission has the potential to develop effective policies for the dismantling of paramilitary and other illegal armed groups and identifying the authors and not just the perpetrators of these crimes.

It is essential that the UN Security Council, provides a group of Experts on organised crime, to be appointed to help this Commission and especially the CSOs representatives to develop such policies.