Jorge Arbey Chantre Achipiz

Jorge Arbey Chantre Achipiz was the President of the Indigenous and Social Alternative Movement and the Secretary of the town council of Pueblo Nuevo. He worked to promote the planting of native trees and plants that were threatened with extinction. At a young age Jorge was forced to move numerous times due to the threat of being recruited by paramilitary and guerrilla groups. He eventually settled in Pueblo Nuevo where he began his work with indigenous people. He was in the middle of writing his thesis on the life plan of the Nasa community of the Ancestral Territory of Pueblo Nuevo in university when he was murdered.

On the morning of May 4 2017, Chantre went out to plant coffee seeds at around 9am but it was only discovered at 11am that he had been murdered. A gunshot was heard during that time but it was thought to be nothing. There was no previous threats against his life. The evidence shows that he was killed by several people but it remains unknown who they were, even after an investigation was launched.


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Region:Americas

Country:Colombia

Department/Province/State:Valle del Cauca

Sex1:Male

Date of Killing:04/05/2017

Previous Threats:No information

Type of Work:Community leader

Organisation:Presidente del Movimiento Alternativo Indígena (President of the Alternative and Indigenous Movement & Secretary of Nasa Cabildo of Pueblo Nuevo)

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).