Colombian indigenous leader Aulio Isamara Forastero was assassinated on October 24, close to the Catru Dubaza Ancoso shelter, shortly after armed assassins reportedly forced him out of his home.
Forastero, from the Pacific province of Choco, is among more than 150 activists killed in Colombia since the beginning of the year. At least 17 of the victims are believed to have been involved in programs linked to the substitution of illicit crops.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia formally condemned the killing on Twitter, stating that it will closely follow the official investigation into Forastero's death.
The Colombian Indigenous National Organisation (ONIC) also publicly condemned the murder, saying the assassination demonstrates that indigenous people in Colombia are being "exterminated".
President Juan Manuel Santos said the systematic murder of Colombian social leaders has risen by 6.25% so far this year compared with 2016.
The murders are a heavy-handed attempt to limit the participation of social leaders in politics, impeding the processes of truth-building, land restitution and environmental protection. In addition to the killings of social leaders, former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia members have also been targeted.
[Abridged from TeleSUR English.]
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