By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia-Seven soldiers were indicted last week for killing Edwin Legarda, the spouse of Aida Quilcue, an indigenous leader. Aida Quilcue lead indigenous protests of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe’s policies. Another indigenous leader was found brutally murdered in Northern Colombia this week.

The army initially explained the shooting death as the result of Legarda failing to stop at a checkpoint in the Cuaca village of San Pedro. However, investigators found no sign of a military check point at the location where Legarda was killed. However, sixteen bullets were found in the sides and just three in the back of the pickup truck Legarda was in.

Seven members of the army were arrested in April of 2009 for the shooting and were charged last week with aggravated assault. The death occurred not long after Legarda’s wife led a large march for several days along the Pan American Highway to the southwestern city of Cali. Protesters demanded that Uribe provide indigenous communities with land, protection from illegal armed groups, and full respect for indigenous rights.

Protest organizers estimate that more than 1,200 indigenous Colombians have been killed and at least 54,000 displaced from their ancestral lands since Uribe became president in 2002.

On Sunday a Zenu indigenous leader that had been reported missing in Northern Colombia was found dead. Efrain Antonio Basillo was beheaded and set on fire by unknown individuals. He was a medicine man and received calls for help in treating an ailing man the night he disappeared.

Tribal leaders believe that both deaths are related to land disputes.

For more information, please see:

Latin American Herald Tribune-Colombian Troops Indicted for Killing Indian -28 January 2010

Colombia Reports-Soldiers on Trial for the Murder of Indigenous Leader-25 January 2010

EFA-Siete Militares Son Llamados a Jucio Por el Homocidio de un Líder Indígena-26 January 2010