Jorge Luis Quintero Villada

Jorge Luis Quintero Villada was an environmental rights defender and president of the Junta de Acción Comunal (Community Action Board) in the village of Sabanitas in Dosquebradas, Risaralda, where he worked as a forest guard.

On 28 September, 2020, Jorge Luis was driving home when he was intercepted by two armed men who opened fire wounding him seriously. Jorge Luis was taken to hospital immediately but died later from his injuries. He had previously denounced the destruction of environmental protection zones and it is believed that his murder is linked to this work.

Jaime Gutiérrez, an advisor to the National Communal Federation of Colombia, stated that “once again, the community is dressed in mourning when murderous bullets target a great community leader such as Jorge Quintero, a hard-working, respectful man, a companion of the community’s struggles, who was always at the service of the community.”


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Region:Americas

Country:Colombia

Department/Province/State:Risaralda

Sex1:Male

Age:60

Date of Killing:28/09/2020

Type of Work:Community leader

Organisation:Junta de Acción Comunal de la vereda Sabanitas

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

Sector Detail:Citizens' rights, Documenting rights in conflict, Peace Building

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).