SUMMARY

Active primarily between 2007 and 2008, Dignidad por Arauca framed itself as a defender of local dignity and order, but in practice carried out acts of intimidation, threats, and selective assassinations against community leaders and civilians.

The one-sided violence perpetrated by Dignidad por Arauca was concentrated in the department of Arauca, Colombia, near the Venezuelan border, and targeted civilians suspected of opposing the group’s regionalist agenda.

Victims were often killed at or near their homes or workplaces, sometimes after receiving prior threats. The group’s tactics contributed to a climate of fear in an already volatile region marked by a strong guerrilla presence.

Dignidad por Arauca first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2007. In October of the same year one-sided violence resulted in over 25 civilian deaths when a man was assassinated by the group in Saravena, Arauca.