 Edwin Legarda in the pickup truck in which he was killed. Photo courtesy of CRIC |
Legarda among 1244 people killed in five years
BOGOTA - On Dec. 16, 2008 Edwin Legarda was attacked by a shower of bullets from Colombian military personnel while driving an official vehicle of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC).
According to press reports, bullets hit the vehicle 17 times, killing Legarda and wounding his passenger, a nurse, who accompanied him en route to pick up members of CRIC's Governing Council for a board meeting in the Indigenous Reserve of La Mesa de Togoima.
Among the leaders Legarda was to transport was his wife, Aida Marina Quilcué Vivas, CRIC's Chief Counselor, who had just returned from testifying before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva about the ongoing extermination of indigenous peoples in Colombia.
Legarda was the 66th indigenous person to be assassinated in 2008, and more than 1,244 people have been assassinated over the last five years, according to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC).
CRIC leaders claim the attack was meant for Legarda's wife, who has been threatened by paramilitary groups - as have other indigenous leaders - for her work to defend indigenous peoples' fundamental human rights.
The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia and CRIC are demanding that the government clarify the facts surrounding Legarda's assassination and punish those responsible.
They are also alerting the national and international community regarding the grave danger faced by indigenous peoples in the Cauca region and throughout Colombia. They consider these acts to be part of a systematic attempt to exterminate indigenous people in Colombia.
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| Reporting from Bogota, Constanza Vieira from IPS Inter Press Service delivered two compelling stories detailing the circumstances surrounding Legarda's death "There Was No Checkpoint" Where Army Shooting Took Place Vieira details how Legarda was ambushed. Q&A: Killing of Native Leader's Husband "Was a Planned Operation" provides interviews with local leaders. |  Aida Marina Quilcué Vivas, CRIC's Chief Counselor. IPS photo by Judith Henriquez | |