An indigenous organization has denounced Colombia’s largest left-wing guerrilla group, FARC, for allegedly assassinating an indigenous leader.
The association of indigenous councils of Northern Cauca (ACIN) have, in an open letter, denounced the FARC for the alleged murder of Rafael Mauricio Giron Ulchur as he was travelling through the municipality of Toribio in the department of Cauca, in Colombia’s south west.
“On January 20 2013 at 3pm…on the road leading from [the town of] Jambalo to the municipality of Toribio – Cauca – Colombia…the indigenous leader Rafael Mauricio Giron Ulchur was cowardly assassinated by the [FARC] guerrillas while travelling by motorcycle, [found] with six rifle bullets in his body,” read the letter.
The indigenous leader of 32 years had held numerous prominent positions in the community, as well as being a member of the Indigenous Social Alliance (ASI) political party.
Rafael Ulchur is survived by his pregnant wife and three children.
The department of Cauca is a flashpoint in Colombia’s armed conflict, and indigenous groups and their leaders have been all too frequent victims of the violence that has occurred in the region as a result.
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