The indigenous leader Efrén Antonio Bailarín Carupia was assassinated in the Colombian municipality of Acandí. Different indigenous organizations denounced his death and They held the armed groups operating in the region and the government responsible for not complying with the protection measures that were requested in 2016. Dancer Carupia was governor and indigenous guard in the department of Chocó.
The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), denounced the murder of Efrén Bailarín Carupia, former governor of a reservation of the Embera Eyabida people, an indigenous people distributed along the Pacific slope in Colombia. Resguardos are legal and socio-political institutions made up of one or more indigenous communities.
Armed violence
Dancer Carupia was shot at least once while fishing in the Chidima Tolo reservation. Those responsible for his murder are armed groups that are present in the department of Chocó, in the west of the country. The ONIC denounced the armed violence and called on the government of President Iván Duque to comply with the agreements reached with the communities.
For its part, the Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ) also denounced the murder of the indigenous leader. “Efrén was part of the indigenous guard and had been governor of the Chidima Tolo reservation. He was an outstanding leader of his community for his commitment and defense of the territory.”They wrote on their Twitter account, where they also pointed to the strategies of dispossession and the serious violations of human rights to which the indigenous community is subjected.
According to a report by the ONIC Human Rights Observatory, between August 7, 2018 and June 30, 2021, in the department of Chocó alone, more than 19 thousand indigenous people were in a situation of confinement, close to 12,500 inhabitants of the region had to move due to the “danger that being in the territories represents”, 42 leaders and authorities were under threat, 35 children and adolescents were forcibly recruited, and 14 homicides were recorded.
“The murder of leaders, the confinement of entire communities, the recruitment and use of minors by all armed groups they are part of the human rights violations that the department is currently facing, ”the organization said. In the statement they also recalled that The reservation where the Carupia Dancer was assassinated should have protection measures as requested by the First Civil Judge specialized in land restitution in Quibdó (capital of the department of Chocó) to the National Protection Unit. “However, to date there are no relevant results that indicate an efficient administration in the protection of the life and integrity of the reservations and their members”ONIC noted.
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