The United Nations on Wednesday condemned the assassination of two members of demobilized guerrilla group FARC at an election campaign event in northwest Colombia.
The two former guerrillas were killed while taking part in the political campaign ahead of the FARC’s first participation in elections since the group’s formation in 1964.
The double homicide took part in the town center of Peque, Antioquia around 11PM on Tuesday.
Since a peace deal with the government in late 2016, more than 36 FARC members and 13 family members of former fighters have been killed, according to a UN report in December.
The UN Verification Mission expresses its grave concern about this fact, which is the first deadly attack within the framework of the 2018 electoral process.
United Nations mission in Colombia
According to the FARC’s presidential candidate and former military commander, Rodrigo Londoño, members of his group “have been the target of constant persecution by armed actors that seek to destabilize the implementation of the peace accords.”
The two FARC members were campaigning for one of the former rebels’ candidates for the House of Representatives ahead of elections on March 11.
We had an event with peasant communities in the municipality of Peque to promote our campaign, know the needs of the communities and make proposals to mitigate the region’s social problem in this municipality so forgotten by the State.
FARC candidate Wilmar de Jesus Cartagena
The former guerrilla group called on authorities to “make a statement on the systematic assassination not just of our comrades, but also of [social] leaders and human rights defenders.”
The UN called on authorities to “take the necessary measures to guarantee the free exercise of political rights during the election process.”
The Interior Ministry told news agency Reuters that authorities were looking into the situation.
The mission will pay particular attention to the security assurances for all election candidates regardless of their political affiliation.
United Nations mission in Colombia
The FARC have long urged to prevent the repetition of a wave of anti-leftist violence that killed thousands of members of the leftist Patriotic Union party in the 1980s and 1990s.
This wave of violence ended previous attempts of the FARC to enter politics and marked the beginning of the most violent period of Colombia’s armed conflict.