María Caicedo Muñoz

Source Telesur TV

The Patriotic March Movement and social organizations confirmed the death of the social leader and defender of human rights, María Caicedo Muñoz, who was kidnapped on October 20, 2018 in the rural area of ​​the municipality of Algeria, department of Cauca.

The lifeless body of the social leader was found in the Micay River, in the vicinity of the village of La Cacharra, in the corregimiento of Puerto Rico in western Colombia.
A commission made up of human rights defenders and the community went to the site to carry out the tasks corresponding to the recognition of the body of María Caicedo.

The spokesman for the Patriotic March in Cauca, Jonathan Centeno, condemned this latest killing and recalled that the social leader was part of an organization that defended the rights of women in that region, attached to the Association of Rural Workers of Algeria, Ascamta.

According to the Colombian Human Rights Network of the Colombian Southwest, the leader was taken by armed individuals who arrived at her home in the village of Desiderio Zapata, a village in Sinai. During the attack, two of her daughters were tied up.

María Caicedo was also a member of the Women’s Committee of the Association of Rural Women of Algeria, Amar.

Delegations of the Police and the Prosecutor’s Office are already carrying out the appropriate investigations to clarify the kidnapping and death of María Caicedo
The death of the social leader brings to 173 so far this year. And since January 1, 2016, when the ceasefire was agreed between the government and the FARC guerrillas, 478 social leaders have been assassinated.


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:Female

Date of Killing:20/10/2018

Previous Threats:Yes

Type of Work:Community leader

Organisation:Comité de Mujeres de la Asociación de Mujeres Campesinas de Argelia, Amar.

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

Sector Detail:Peasant Communities, Women's 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).