San Jose, August 9 (Prensa Latina) The United Nations System in Costa Rica (ONUCostaRica) today called on the State of Costa Rica to urgently investigate the murders of indigenous Bribrí leaders Sergio Rojas and Brörán Jhery Rivera.
On his Twitter social media profile @UNCOSTARICA, ONUCostaRica wrote: “At #DiaDeLosPueblosIndigenas, we urge #CostaRica to urgently investigate the killings of Indigenous leaders Sergio Rojas and Jhery Rivera.”
A swift and effective judiciary will help prevent these events from happening again and protect human rights defenders, the tweet concludes.
Rojas, a Bribri Uniwak leader from Salitre, founding member and coordinator of Frenapi and member of the Council of Own Authority Carers of Mother Earth (Ditsö Iriria AjKönuk Wapka de Salitre), was murdered at his home in the Yeri community of Salitre indigenous territory. , in the canton of Buenos Aires, in Puntarenas, on March 18, 2019.
A situation that unfortunately repeated itself with the assassination of leader Brörán Rivera, land recuperator and defender of indigenous rights, on February 24, 2020.
The National Front of Indigenous Peoples (Frenapi) has repeatedly demanded clear answers from the State of Costa Rica regarding the investigation into the Rojas and Rivera murders and compliance with the precautionary measures issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in 2015.
Also, take special protective measures for witnesses and defenders of individual liberties who are threatened.
In 2015, the IACHR decided to guarantee the lives and personal integrity of the members of the Teribe de Térraba and Bribri de Salitre indigenous peoples in Buenos Aires, Puntarenas province, given “the seriousness of the situation, the urgency of the situation and irreparable damage .
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