• Progress is being made in a second phase of the investigation with the Special Directorate against Corruption on the criminal complaints made by the victim for alleged irregularities in the hospital and other municipal entities. 

  • In another important decision, the Office of the Attorney General obtained the conviction of a ringleader of the so-called Clan del Golfo for the murders of leaders Diofanor Montoya Urrego and Henry Arturo González Acevedo. 

The Office of the Attorney General, through the Special Investigation Unit (Unidad Especial de Investigación UEI) and the Sectional Directorates, achieved two important results in the clarification of crimes committed against human rights defenders.

In Norte de Santander, Jhon Freddy Espinosa Álvarez, alias el Burro, the alleged perpetrator of the murder of leader, Jorge Luis Solano Vega, which took place on November 3 last in Ocaña, was prosecuted. 

The Office of the Attorney General charged this person with aggravated murder and aggravated illegal possession of firearms. The defendant did not plead guilty to the charges and according to a judge in Cúcuta (Norte de Santander), he must serve a sentence in the La Modelo prison in Bogotá. 

This result is produced thanks to the Strategic Direction defined by the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa Delgado, in which the clarification of criminal acts against human rights defenders was established as a priority. 

From the moment that the crime was committed at the victim’s property located in neighborhood Miraflores in Ocaña, different investigative tasks were coordinated. Among these tasks there are: interviews with witnesses, analysis of security camera videos, among others. 

The evidence shows that Espinosa Álvarez shot he human rights defender who was also the president of the Organization (Organización de Víctimas de Desaparición Forzada Asvida), delegate of the board Mesa de Víctimas in Ocaña  and recognized in the municipality for his constant complaints against public servants of the municipal administration who were involved in alleged irregularities in contracts at the hospital and other local entities. 

As stated by the Office of the Attorney General at the hearing, four days before the murder, that is, last October 30, the alleged aggressor was allegedly seen in the area where Solano Vega lived. Apparently, he was monitoring the leader and used the pretext of being looking for a rental housing. 

In this way, the defendant identified the moment when the community leader was without a security team. The defendant allegedly arrived at the victims’ property, he knocked on the door and he allegedly shot him. 

During the investigations, information about the physical description and clothes that alias el Burro wore, among other elements was received. Additionally, it was found that he was violating a house arrest measure. 

As a result of search warrants carried out in Ocaña (Norte de Santander), in the property where the alleged murderer was arrested, CTI investigators of the Office of the Attorney General and members of the Elite Corps of the National Police seized items which are under examination.  

Conviction of leader of Clan del Golfo

In another important judicial action, the Office of the Attorney General obtained the conviction of Juan Gabriel Gil, alias El Poli. The Fourth Criminal Court of the Circuit Court of Antioquia imposed him a punishment of 21 years in prison for the murders of the human rights defender Diofanor Montoya Urrego and the social leader Henry Arturo González Acevedo. 

Alias ​​el Poli, head of the so-called Jorge Iván Arboleda Garcés front of the Organized Armed Group (Grupo Armado Organizado Gao) ‘Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia’ or ‘Clan del Golfo’ in northeast area of Antioquia, was sentenced for the crimes of aggravated homicide, aggravated criminal conspiracy, and manufacture, trafficking and aggravated possession of weapons for the exclusive use of the Armed Forces or explosives. 

With this conviction, the murders of Montoya Urrego (64 years old) which took place on April 26, 2019 in Maceo (Antioquia), and that of González Acevedo, committed on December 15, 2018 in Vegachí, are clarified.  

It is worth remembering that other four alleged members of the so-called ‘Clan del Golfo’ were sent to prison for the murder of these two leaders.  

Other cases that were solved 

Based on the evidence, the Office of the Attorney General obtained the clarification and association of 14 homicides of civilians committed in 7 municipalities of Antioquia between 2018 and 2019, which are attributed to alias El Poli and to the criminal organization. 

The Office of the Attorney General ratifies its commitment to prioritize investigations related to crimes committed against leaders and human rights defenders, and to prosecute those people responsible. 

The Office of the Attorney General achieves an advance of more than the 60% in the clarification of murders of human rights defenders in this administration with 241 cases solved to date.

 The Office of the Attorney General makes this information public for reasons of general interest.