Colombian Human Rights Defender Stabbed, in Critical Condition

By teleSUR

21 February 17

Human rights leaders and those living in rural areas still face violence despite a peace deal being signed last year.

rancisco Gomez, a Colombian human rights lawyer, remains in a critical condition after being stabbed several times in his sleep overnight. Gomez’s story adds to a catalog of violence against human rights defenders as the country continues to roll out peace between the FARC and the government.

41-year-old Gomez was attacked at 3 a.m. in his house in the city of Arauca in Colombia’s northeastern border with Venezuela. He was stabbed by two unknown assailants four times, according to Colombia’s Rural Press Agency.

Doctors say Gomez is in a critical condition and was operated on after the attack hit several vital organs. Co-worker Juan Torres, who was staying with Gomez at the time, said that the attackers used a key to enter the property.

Both Gomez and Torres work for the Foundation for the Defense of Human Rights and the International Humanitarian Law of the East and Central Colombia, or the DHOC. Torres said that they had both previously received threats over their work with campesino communities in the local area.

On Saturday, another human rights leader and campesino from the southern Cauca department, Falver Ceron, was killed after being shot 11 times.

While a peace deal between FARC and the Colombian government was officially signed in November, human rights defenders in the country continue to be increasingly targeted. At least 50 human rights defenders were killed in the country in 2016, according to the IACHR, an independent branch of the Organization of American States.

Without the protection of FARC troops, many civilians living in rural areas face increasing violence from paramilitary groups that have filled the void. Between Aug. 29, 2016, and Jan. 29, 2017, 317 violations of human rights were identified, perpetrated by groups related to the paramilitary forces, according to a report by social movement Patriotic March.