Fernando de Jesús Gaviria García

Fernando de Jesús Gaviria García and Omaira Alcaraz lived in the district of Cerro Azul, in the village of San Juan Alto in the municipality of San Pablo, southern Bolívar.

Fernando was recognized for his work in the land restitution process. He was also part of the Association of Agro-mining Families of the South of Bolívar and Antioquia-AFASBA-, of the People’s Congress and CAN. In addition, he was the president of the Junta de Acción Comunal (Community Action Board) in San Juan Alto.

For her part, Omaira was a prosecutor for the Community Action Board of San Juan Alto and a member of the Comunes party.

Both were members of the FARC Party.

At around 21h30 on the night of 29 August, 2020, two hooded men arrived with uzi-type weapons and entered Omaira’s home. They tied up Omaira and her entire family and then went to the store where Fernando worked, located in the center of the village.

They ordered him to go to Omaira’s house, but he refused. In response the men shot him in the stomach. At that point the gun jammed and Fernando tried to escape but the gunmen shot him another 7 times, killing him. They then returned to Omaira’s house, took her out to the front door and shot her dead.

 


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Region:Americas

Country:Colombia

Department/Province/State:Bolivar

Sex1:Male

Date of Killing:29/08/2020

Previous Threats:No

Type of Work:Social leader

Organisation:Junta de Acción Comunal de la vereda San Juan Alto, Congreso de los Pueblos -CdP y -CNA-

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

Sector Detail:Citizens' rights, Extractive industries/Mega projects, Peasant Communities

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).