Ruth Alicia Lopez Guisao
Ruth Alicia was a member of Asociación Agroecológica Interétnica e Intercultural ASONKINCHAS (Intercultural and Interethnic Agroecological Association), an organization that is part of the Coordinador Nacional Agrario (National Agrarian Coordinator) and the Congreso de los Pueblos (Congress of the Peoples). The human rights defender worked with a group of 12 indigenous and afro descendant communities of Medio San Juan and Sipí in the department of Chocó on a food security project organised by the Cumbre Agraria (Agrarian Summit). Both Ruth Alicia and her family are respected community leaders recognised for their sense of social responsibility and their solidarity with the communities in which they have lived.
HRDs in Colombia work in a violent and unsafe environment. They are subjected to threats, intimidation, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, physical assaults, torture, killings, illegal searches of their homes and offices and stigmatisation as a result of their activities in defence of human rights. The perpetrators of these abuses are frequently paramilitary groups, many of whom have links to the government or security services, or armed opposition groups. The continued frequent and severe threats and attacks against HRDs around the country contradict government claims of paramilitary demobilisation.
