Indigenous Man Feared Murdered after Disappearance
News from Colombia |
on: Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Indigenous people from Pradera in Valle department have reported the July 15th disappearance of 71 year-old Gilberto Campo, a member of the Kwet Wala Indigenous Council. The community has been fruitlessly searching for him since then.
The community reports that paramilitary groups are present in the area and that there was a Colombian army encampment just 250 metres from his home at the time of his disappearance. His brother reported him missing to the Municipal Ombudsman but they told him that it was not their jurisdiction. He then went to the Attorney General’s office but they refused to take on the case, even refusing to put out a missing persons alert.
The disappearance of Mr Campo follows the unpunished March 6th killing of 70 year-old indigenous elder Leopoldina Valencia Guegue. Community leaders report that the community is terrified that these crimes signal the beginning of a new phase of terror targeting them.
