South America: Colombia Ms. Ana Fabricia Córdoba 07/06/2011

Ana Fabricia Córdoba (51) was a Colombian land right activist murdered in Colombian´s second city Medellín by an unidentified gunman.

Ana Fabricia Córdoba’s husband and son were killed by paramilitary groups as a result of which she was forced to flee to Medellín. She settled in La Cruz neighborhood Of Medellín with her daughter and became involved in women’s rights work, campaigning for people to receive compensation for lands stolen when they were displaced during the decades of armed conflict.

In Medellin, she led a number of non-governmental organisations supporting the rights of victims of Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict. After her son´s death, in 2010, Ana Fabricia became even more committed to seeking truth and justice for the members of her community

Ana Fabricia had been a member of Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres since 2001 and she was an active member of a group of women called “adventurous promoters of rights”, a community organization that works for improvements in the quality of life of displaced persons and victims of violence. In addition , she founded a pressure group campaigning for the restitution of the almost seven million hectares of land forcibly taken from its rightful owners by various armed groups since 1985.

since her ast public meeting she reported that she had been receiving death threats and had asked the state for protection. Although Ana Fabricia had filed official reports of these threats, the government failed to provide security measures prior to her death.

Investigation

Vice-President Garzon said that there would be a thorough investigation into Ms. Cordoba’s murder. According to Mr. Garzon the government backs the victims and their rights and warns any criminals that cases like Ana Fabricia’s won’t go unpunished.