A community leader in Colombia who campaigned against the
incursion of plantation companies into land and forests has reportedly been
assassinated.
Hernan Bedoya defended the collective land rights of
Afro-Colombian farmers as well as local biodiversity in the face of palm oil
and industrial agriculture expansion. He was allegedly shot dead by a
neo-paramilitary group on Friday, December 5.
According to the Intercelestial Commission for Justice and
Peace in Colombia (CIJP), a Colombian human rights group, Bedoya was heading
home on horseback when two members of the neo-paramilitary Gaitánista
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AGC) intercepted him on a bridge and shot him
14 times, immediately killing him.
Bedoya fought to ensure that the collective Afro-Colombian
territory in Chocó Department was protected from ongoing “invasions” that were
cutting into agricultural lands and destroying protected areas set aside for
their rich biodiversity.
Mongabay has published an in-depth piece on the background
to the incident, here.
