Asdrúbal Cayapu

Source: Gobierno de Espana,

Asdrúbal Cayapu was one of 5 members of the Nasa Indigenous people killed on 29th October 2019. ​

The Spanish Government strongly condemned the attack, perpetrated by FARC dissidents in Tacueyó (Cauca), which took the lives of community leaders, community members and members of the Nasa indigenous guard, including the leader of the Nasa Indigenous community Cristina Bautista and the indigenous guards José Gerardo Soto, James Wilfredo Soto, Eliodoro Uniscue and Asdrúbal Cayapu.

Source: Peoples Dispatch

Allegedly, members of the Dagoberto Ramos dissident group, ambushed the bus in which Indigenous guards were travelling and opened fire on them indiscriminately. The association reported that the attack continued for more than 10 minutes and that the attackers even fired at the ambulances transporting the injured people to the hospital. The association called on “human rights organisations, international organisations and the national government to accompany and support the Nasa People.”

Source: Peoples Dispatch

The indigenous peoples of Antioquia and Colombia demand and reiterate an urgent need to guarantee the protection of life, culture and indigenous territories.  Events such as this are one more warning, calling us to unite the people and indigenous resistance, as the only way to guarantee, the fulfilment and defence of fundamental rights and life.

Actions like these have been intensifying since the signing of the Final Peace Agreement.  In fact, only in 2018 in the north of Cauca, seven indigenous people were killed by armed groups outside the law and so far in the Administration of President Iván Duque, 123 homicides have been registered, deaths that not only affect their families and their communities, but the entire country.

The indigenous peoples of Antioquia and Colombia, call on the international community, human rights organisations, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Ombudsman, the Public Ministry, the Congress of the Republic and in general, to the organisations that defend human rights, to help, accompany and stop the bloodshed that indigenous peoples are mourning today.


If you would like to provide a personal recollection, please email us at: HRDMemorial@frontlinedefenders.org

Region:Americas

Country:Colombia

Department/Province/State:Cauca

Sex1:Male

Date of Killing:29/10/2019

Type of Work:Community leader

Organisation:Indigenous Guard

Sector or Type of Rights the HRD Worked On:ESC Rights

Sector Detail:Indigenous Peoples' Rights, Land Rights

More information:Front Line Defenders

1This database records an individual's chosen gender identity. If they do not self-identify as male or female they can use the option of recording other/neither or use the term NBGI (non binary gender identity).