Left: LWR’s Luis Murillo stands at his inauguration as Governor of the Colombian state of Chocó in 1998. With him is Elacio Murillo, his political mentor, uncle and friend.
On January 10, 2007, Elacio Murillo Mosquera was shot in a public café. He leaves behind his wife, daughter and two grandchildren.
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On January 10, Colombian journalist, community leader, lawyer and political activist Elacio Murillo Mosquera was shot at point-blank range while sitting with two friends at a café and ice cream parlor near his office in the town of Istmina, Chocó in Colombia.
Official reports suggest that he may have been killed because of the recent publication of information about emerging paramilitary organizations, their bosses and their atrocities in the region of San Juan–Baudó in the Chocó province. Murillo, however, was not involved in the release of this information.
Elacio Murillo was a very visible public figure in the department of Chocó and was profoundly committed to his people. They are deeply shocked and confounded by his death. He served several times as judge, councilman, and member of the State Assembly in Chocó and was a candidate for the Colombian Senate in 2002. In 1993 he founded the radio station Litoral Stereo. He has been serving as community and political commentator for the newspaper Chocó 7 Dias, the most circulated newspaper in the region, since 1996.
The staff of Lutheran World Relief grieves with our dear colleague Luis Murillo, our International Policy Analyst and a former governor of Chocó. Elacio was his uncle, mentor, friend and former close political advisor.
The assassination of Elacio Murillo exposes a much broader trend in regions of Colombia of increasing threats, intimidation, and deplorable acts of violence against local leaders in areas under the control of demobilized and/or re-emerging paramilitary and guerrilla groups. In Chocó, kidnappings increased a numbing 336% in 2006 compared to 2005. The main targets of these criminal organizations are leaders of Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities, religious and women’s groups, labor unions and human rights groups, as well as journalists and humanitarian workers. This evidences the deep flaws of the Colombian paramilitary demobilization process.
LWR has been working in Colombia since the late 1990s to support marginalized and internally displaced people and build peace and justice. In the United States, LWR encourages and empowers U.S. Lutherans to speak out in favor of a more just foreign policy toward Colombia.
PRAYER: Please hold Elacio’s family and friends in prayer as they grieve – pray for their comfort as well as their safety. Pray similarly for the thousands of others throughout the country who are suffering similar danger and sorrow, and for those who have witnessed these terrible crimes. In addition please keep the larger Colombian conflict in your prayers, asking for an end to the endemic violence, fear, economic hardship and drug trafficking which cause so much suffering in the region.
Please send appeals as soon as possible expressing your concern about the murder of Elacio Murillo, the safety of his family, and the protection of the people living in the San Juan–Baudó region of Chocó, Colombia. Letters can be based on the suggested talking points.
SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS:
In solidarity with our colleague, his family and his community, we at LWR:
- urge the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá to make a public statement about Elacio Murillo’s assassination, and
- encourage the Colombian government to fully investigate this case and other threats and assassinations targeting local community leaders in Chocó. The process of bringing justice to these cases must be closely monitored in order to deny the perpetrators the impunity they too often enjoy.
- We also ask that effective measures be taken in consultation with Elacio Murillo’s remaining family for their protection. We ask the same for other leaders and communities at risk in Chocó.
Please direct faxes, emails, letters, and phone calls to:
The Honorable William Wood
United States Ambassador to Colombia
Carrera 45 # 22D-45
Bogotá, D.C., Colombia
AmbassadorB@state.gov
Phone: 011-57-1-315-0811
Fax: 011-57-1-315-2197
The Honorable Carolina Barco Isakson
Colombian Ambassador to the United States
2118 Leroy Place, NW,
Washington, DC 20008
email address: emwas@colombiaemb.org
Phone: (202)-387-8338
Fax: (202)-232-8643
Mario Iguarán
Attorney General, Republic of Colombia
Diag. 22 b No 52-01 Bogotá
contacto@fiscalia.gov.co
Fax: 00-57-1-570-2022
THANK YOU for your prayers, telephone calls, faxes and letters. Thank you for continuing the important work of raising your voices, both to God and to earthly authorities, and for choosing to step out for our neighbors in Colombia.
