Saúl Márquez Tovar, a Uitoto leader from Colombia’s Amazonas department and President of the Zonal Indigenous Association of Arica,
was found tortured and mutilated on January 7, 2005 in the Brazilian town of
Tabatinga. Márquez disappeared on Januray 6 from the Colombian city of
Leticia, the capital of Amazonas, bordering Brazil and Peru. Márquez was
found with his tongue, teeth and fingernails removed and five bullet wounds.
The Colombian police have detained four suspects for robbery and murder; however
the case has not been settled. Marquez was in Leticia to collect money on behalf
of his people for educational and skill building projects.
The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), repudiates the crime,
but expects that, like many other indigenous murder cases, no one will face
charges. Márquez was 28 years old and the father of two children ages
three and four. According to the Boston Globe, over 100 indigenous Colombians
have been killed within the last year.
