Genaro Isabare Forastero was a teacher and indigenous leader of the Emberá Dobida people living on the Ankozó Catrú y Dubasa reservation in Alto Baudó, Chocó. He had been working as a teacher but he had to give that up in 2020 because of threats he had been receiving from an armed group.
Genaro was kidnapped by armed men on 12 November, 2020, after they attacked the Embera Dobida de Ecevede Indigenous community of the Ankozó Catrú and Dubasa reservations. Two days later his body was found in woods near the reservation with evident signs of torture.
Paramilitary groups the ELN and the Clan del Golfo are fighting for control of drug routes in the area and have been targeting any indigenous and community leaders who oppose them.
The killing of Genaro took place during one of the bloodiest recent weekends in Colombia when twelve community leaders were killed over three days.
The Institute of Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ) has repeatedly warned about the horrifying increase in violence in Colombia in 2020. According to INDEPAZ, between January 1 and November 15, 2020, 254 environmentalists, human rights defenders, Indigenous, peasant and social leaders, and 56 ex-combatants of the FARC, who are in the reincorporation process, were killed.