At least 261 social leaders and 40 demobilized FARC guerrillas have been assassinated during Colombia’s peace process, according to President Juan Manuel Santos.
At the presentation of a report on the security guarantees for participants in the peace process, Santos said that 40% of the homicides of community leaders and human rights defenders were solved by authorities.
We are not satisfied with that figure, we can’t be. We would like all the cases to be clarified already, but it is an important percentage because of its speed, which in fact has never been seen before.
Juan Manuel Santos
Increased protection for civilians
According to the president, some 4,000 community leaders and human rights defenders are receiving some form of direct protection from the government.
The security forces have struggled to provide security in former FARC territories that have long suffered state abandonment or neglect.
In the course of the peace process, the security forces carried out two major reorganizations to curb the violence targeting community leaders, many of whom are directly involved in the implementation of the peace deal.
Santos orders 60,000 troops to curb killing of Colombia’s social leaders
FARC demobilization considerably less violent than that of AUC
Some 200 leaders of the FARC, which demobilized 14,000 people last year, are also receiving protection.
Some 4,000 former guerrillas who live in rural camps are receiving round-the-clock protection from the police.
With the exception of one violent incident that injured a demobilized FARC member in Arauquita, a rural community in northeast Colombia, none of these protected members were killed or suffered attacks.
Nevertheless, with the exception of those receiving protection, 40 accredited FARC members have been assassinated to date.
Juan Manuel Santos
This would mean that demobilized FARC guerrillas are met with considerably less violence than ex-combatants of the AUC who demobilized between 2003 and 2006.
Thousands of former paramilitary fighters were assassinated after they demobilized, which triggered many to rearm and join groups like the AGC.
Why paramilitary groups still exist in Colombia
Santos recognized that “new armed actors” have taken control over FARC territories “to dispute illegal businesses,” saying that “the enormous challenge” left for his successor will be “the protection of communities in those territories.”
