Killing of a HRD is the latest attack on Movimiento Ríos Vivos Antioquia
On 2 May 2018, human rights defender Hugo Albeiro George Pérez was shot and killed by an unknown individual, while he was participating in a peaceful protest to oppose the impact of Hidroituango Hydroelectric Project in Colombia’s Antioquia Department. The human rights defender’s nephew, Domar Egidio Zapata George, was also killed in the attack.
Movimiento Ríos Vivos Antioquia (MRVA) is a human rights movement composed by 15 associations and families in the West, North and Lower-Caucasub-region in Antioquia, affected by the negative environmental and human rights impact of “Hidroituango”, one of the largest embankment dam in Latin America, currently under construction on the Cauca River. The hydroelectric project, carried out by Public Enterprises of Medellin (Empresa Públicas de Medellin – EPM), affects more that 26 thousand hectares of land in 19 municipalities in that region.
On 4 May 2018, police officers attended the burial of Hugo Albeiro George Pérez in order to question his widow, Luciriam Hernández, on the human rights defender’s involvement in Movimiento Ríos Vivos Antioquia (MRVA) and to ask for further details regarding his murder. Officials from the Antioquia Police Department said publicly that Hugo Albeiro George was not a human right defender or an MRVA member and that his murder was related to unresolved property issues regarding his land in Puerto Valdivia.
Hugo Albeiro George Pérez was a leader of MRVA from the beginning of the human rights movement, when Public Enterprises of Medellin (Empresas Públicas de Medellin – EPM) started to threaten the livelihoods of the campesino communities in Puerto Valdivia and attempted to expropriate their lands, in order to carry out the Hidroituango hydroelectric project. The human rights defender’s family have lived in Puerto Valdivia for fifty-two years, working at the Manzanares estate near the Cauca River.
On 2 May 2018, Hugo Albeiro George Pérez was shot and killed while participating in a peaceful protest to oppose the impact of Hidroituango Hydroelectric Project. During his burial on 4 May, police officials insisted on questioning his widow over his human rights activities with MRVA. The MRVA say that police officials took advantage of the family’s vulnerability to pressure and threaten Hugo Albeiro George Pérez’s widow into accompanying them for further questioning.
EMP representatives said the company granted reparation measures to those affected by the Hidroituango Hydroelectric Project and said there was no merit to the claims that the George family had suffered as a result of the project’s construction. The George family says that they did receive a payment from EMP after the damage of some of their crops, but they deny having received compensation for the loss of other economic activities, such as artisinal fishing and barequeo (artisanal mining).
Front Line Defenders expresses its concern at the smear campaign being conducted against the late human rights defender, Hugo Albeiro George Pérez, and expresses further concern over the constant harassment, attacks, and criminalization suffered by members of Rios Vivos Antioquia over the past number of months.
On 2 May 2018, human rights defender Hugo Albeiro George Pérez was shot and killed by an unknown individual, while he was participating in a peaceful protest to oppose the impact of Hidroituango hydroelectric project in Colombia’s Antioquia Department. The human rights defender’s nephew, Domar Egidio Zapata George, was also killed in the attack.
Hugo Albeiro George Pérez was a community leader of the Asociación de Víctimas y Afectados por Megaproyectos ASVAM El Aro (Victims of Megaprojects ASVAM El Aro Association) in the Ituango Municipality, one of the organisations which is part of Movimiento Ríos Vivos Antioquia (MRVA). MRVA is a human rights movement composed by 15 associations and families in the West, North and Lower-Cauca sub-regions in Antioquia, affected by the negative environmental and human rights impact of “Hidroituango”, one of the largest embankment dam in Latin America, currently under construction on the Cauca River. The hydroelectric project, carried out by Public Enterprises of Medellin (Empresa Públicas de Medellin – EPM), affects more that 26 thousand hectares of land in 19 municipalities in that region.
MRVA says that the Hidroituango Hydroelectric Project has conducted illegal logging and hazardous waste disposal without considering the impact on the environment and on local communities. The Cauca River is of great importance to the culture and economy of the local communities, who now face daily risks of floods and landslides that threaten their homes and livelihoods. The communities have also been among the most affected by the wider Colombian conflict; some have been victims and witnesses of disappearances, massacres, tortures, and killings by armed groups. The project threatens to flood mass graves, where unidentified bodies were buried throughout the conflict. This could undermine the future investigations of armed conflict violence as part of the Transitional Justice System in Colombia.
The protest on 2 May 2018, had specifically been arranged by communities of Puerto Valdivia, who were particularly worried about the construction of the dam wall, which they believed could result in destruction of local land and property.
The Hidroituango Hydroelectric Project, which is being carried out by Public Enterprises of Medellin (Empresa Públicas de Medellin – EPM), affects more that 26 hectares of land in 19 municipalities. The EPM has reportedly not offered any form of compensation to those affected by the project, and human rights defenders complain it continues to violate its obligations under the environmental licence granted by the state.
In the context of the opposition to the impact of the Hidroituango Hydroelectric Project, MRVA has documented 152 attacks against members of MRVA, including the killing of Hugo Albeiro George Pérez. Three people have been killed, two have survived attempts on their lives, and sixty-three people have been threatened and harassed by paramilitary forces. Two attacks have involved explosives and two have involved torture. There have been seventeen smear campaigns against MRVA members, ten cases of discrimination because of links with MRVA activities, one attempted enforced disappearance, and two cases of harassment.
There is no one group responsible for the attacks against the members of MRVA, but the private security company hired by EPM and illegal armed groups represent the biggest threat for those involved with Movimiento Ríos Vivos Antioquia. MRVA has a collective Prevention and Protection Plan in place, with the help of the Ministry of Interior, which agreed to adopt political and material measures to help the security of the communities in Antioquia. However, these measures have never been implemented.
Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the killing of human rights defender Hugo Albeiro George Pérez, as it believed that his assassination was linked with his work in Movimiento Ríos Vivos Antioquia. Front Line Defenders expresses further concern for the risks and theaths the members of MRVA face everyday, because of their work in the defence of the environmental and land rights of the communities in Puerto Valdivia, Antioquia, who opposed the Hidroituango project.
Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Colombia to:
1. Strongly condemn the killing of human rights defender Hugo Albeiro George Pérez;
2. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the assassination Hugo Albeiro George Pérez and the multiple attacks on MRVA members, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;
3. Implement the political and material measures agreed in the collective Prevention and Protection Plan of MRVA;
4. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Colombia are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.
