Due to the expiry of his term, deceased human rights defender Bernardo Cuero Bravo’s would-be assassin was summoned to a hearing on 9 August 2018.  (Expand notice: https://www.elheraldo.co/judicial/insolito-juzgado-cita-al-difunto-bernardo-cuero-para-que-asista-audiencia-de-su-presunto).

Following his assassination on 7 June 2017, the death of the Afro-descendant defender has gone unpunished: not only due to causes that precede this incident – which demonstrate the frivolousness of a war that continues in the territories and the apathy of a government that insists upon denying the systematic violation of human rights, especially of those who in and for the territory – but rather, for each and every one of the omissions by the State institutions charged with penalizing and sentencing the responsible parties that today translate into the imminent violation of human rights and revictimization of the already-deceased Bernardo Cuero and his family, who, surprised by this unbelievable act, today demand justice and truth.

These incidents that transgress on and exacerbate the pain of a people, a family, and an entire nation, are the proof of systematic violations and omissions of a State that is indifferent to the pain of an entire society.  The life of Bernardo Cuero represented the voice of the Afro-descendant people, who have historically been overlooked and doomed due to the inaction of a discriminatory, corrupt, and violent government.

As an institution that looks out for the defense and recognition of human rights, we forcefully reject this situation and lament the incidents which the Cuero Bravo family and the entire Afro-descendant community confronts once again as victims of a war that progressively drives away hope for constructing stable and lasting peace.