Hernan Bedoya, a community leader in Colombia who campaigned against the incursion of plantation companies into land and forests has reportedly been assassinated.He 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 owner of the “Mi Tierra” Biodiversity Zone, located in the collective Afro-Colombian territory of Pedeguita-Mancilla.
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.
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.
According to Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation (PARES), 137 social leaders have been killed across Colombia in 2017.