Colombia human rights update January 2021
Forced displacement also occurred, with town councillors, journalists and indigenous activists continuing to be targeted.
The opening weeks of 2021 were the most violent start to a year since Colombia’s peace agreement was signed in 2016.
Having registered over 90 massacres and over 300 social activists killed in the previous twelve months, according to national human rights organisations, the first month of the new year saw at least sevent massacres, 17 killings of social activists and five FARC former combatants killed.
Forced displacement also occurred, with town councillors, journalists and indigenous activists continuing to be targeted.
Below is a summary of cases of violence in January 2021.
The 22-year-old became the 250
th former guerilla fighter to be killed in Colombia since the signing of the 2016 peace accord designed to end the decades-old conflict.
She was reportedly leaving a party with her younger sister, Reina Zabala Mazo, in the early hours of the morning when unknown assailants opened fire, killing the pair.
Ms Mazo was known by the nom de guerre Liliana Estrada during the conflict.
She was part of the ranks which demobilised following an agreement that saw Farc lay down its arms and become a legal political party, the Alternative Revolutionary Force for the Common People also known as Farc.