Colombia rights activist killed
2010/03/19 18:20:58 GMT
--bbc.co.uk--

The killing of a Colombian human rights activist has sparked calls for an urgent investigation into his death. Reports say Jhonny Hurtado, 59, was shot dead on Monday at his farm near La Catalina, in Colombia's Meta region.

The farmer had recently spoken to a British delegation of union activists and labour campaigners about alleged rights abuses in the area. The delegation said it is "deeply saddened" and has urged the government to bring those responsible to justice.

"We were deeply concerned to learn that soldiers of the Colombian Army were allegedly present in the area at the time that this killing occurred," the delegation said in a letter to Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe Velez.

The Colombian authorities have not yet commented on the case. However Gen Orlando Paez, operational director of the National Police told the Associated Press that he was unaware of the case as he had no units in the region, which is controlled by a special army unit.