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The
organization has requested
protection measures for
the Teribe and Bribri
indigenous communities as
a result of threats from
farmers and wood
producers. / Presidential
House courtesy
photo.
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Human Rights
Commissioner requests
expeditious investigation
into murder of Sergio
Rojas
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By the
A.M. Costa Rica staff
Commissioner Joel Hernández,
representing Costa Rica before
the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights, met this week with
representatives of the
indigenous communities in Teribe
in the town of Térraba*,
and Bribri in the town of Salitre*,
who are beneficiaries of
protection measures requested by
that organization.
A Human Rights mission arrived
in the country after President
Carlos Alvarado extended the
invitation on March 22, a few
days after the murder of
indigenous leader Sergio Rojas.
Commissioner Hernandez had a
meeting at the Attorney
General's Office where he called
for an "expeditious
investigation into the murder of
Sergio Rojas, because that
cannot go unpunished."
"We have listened to the
commitment of the authorities to
address the pending issues and
we are pleased to have had a
very direct, very personal, very
long contact, of intense days,
with the beneficiaries of the
precautionary measure (referring
to the indigenous community),"
said Commissioner Hernandez. "We
leave satisfied with the renewed
commitment and also satisfied
because now we have many more
elements to understand an
extremely complex issue."
The Human Rights mission left
the country on Wednesday
morning.
The organization has requested
protection measures for the
Teribe and Bribri indigenous
communities as a result of
threats from farmers and wood
producers, who apparently try to
cut down the trees and take the
lands from the indigenous
people.
Related to the murder of Sergio
Rojas, as A.M. Costa Rica
reported, on March 21, President
Alvarado condemned the crime.
"This is a tragic day for the
Bribri people, for the
indigenous peoples and for all
of Costa Rica," said President
Alvarado. "We express our pain
to the relatives of Rojas and to
all the Bribri people."
According to the police report,
the murder occurred on May 18th,
at the sector of the Salitre*
indigenous territory in the
Buenos Aires in Puntarenas.
A witness reported that a series
of shots had been heard. When
the police arrived at the house,
they identified the body of
Sergio Rojas. He had been killed
by multiple gunshots.
The Public Ministry in its
statement clarified that false
information being disseminated
about the murder on social
networks:
- The victim did not file any
complaint, neither as an
offended person nor as to
witness, related to any land
property case.
- A day before the murder, he
went to the Prosecutor's Office
of Buenos Aires in Puntarenas,
to accompany two people who
filed a written complaint.
- Mr. Rojas has not made any
complaint for threats or
aggression or against his life.
- Mr. Rojas does not appear as a
victim or as a witness in any
complaint about threats.
"Based on the evidence collected
so far, it has not been
determined that the motive for
murder is related to the
complaint filed by the
indigenous people who were
accompanied by Mr. Rojas,” said
the Public Ministry in its
statement.
Mr. Sergio Rojas was a
well-known indigenous leader of
the Salitre area in Buenos Aires
in Puntarenas and member of the
National Coordination of the
National Front of Indigenous
Peoples.
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How does the government protect
the indigenous communities in
your country? We would like to
know your thoughts on this
story. Send your
comments to: news@amcostarica.com
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