Incident Summary:
03/22/2011: On Tuesday morning at 0800, in front of the headquarters of a transportation carrier in Saravena, Arauca, Colombia, Judge Gloria Constanza Gaona, who was on her way to a municipal court in northern Colombia, was shot and killed by three members of the Ernesto Che Guevara Front of the National Liberation Army (ELN). Constanza Gaona was presiding over the case in which the Colombian army is suspected of murdering three young siblings in October 2010. On 05/02/2011 on Monday, Colombian police captured three alleged ELN members, Nelson Archila Romero, alias Belker, Robinson Adrián Ortega and José Diomedes Gamboa Giraldo, who are accused of assassinating the judge. Authorities stated that the perpetrators were aiming to discredit national security forces.
Overview
GTD ID:
201103220001
When:
2011-03-22
Country:
Colombia
Region:
South America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Arauca
City:
Saravena
Location Details:
The attack took place in front of the headquarters of a transportation carrier in Saravena, Arauca, Colombia.
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Assassination |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Government (General) |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Colombian Government |
| Specific Description |
Judge Gloria Constanza Gaona, a federal judge, |
| Nationality of Target |
Colombia |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
No |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| Unknown firearms were used in the attack. |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | No |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
| Additional Information |
The summary of this incident was partially based on an article originally written in Spanish. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
3 |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
3 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
1 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
1 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
| Total Number of Injured |
0 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| Colombia Reports, Kathryn Thompson, "Judge on Child Murder Case Assassinated," http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/15060-judge-in-charge-of-child-murder-case-assassinated.html (March 22, 2011). |
| Colombian Armed Forces, "Police Confirm that ELN Perpetrated Assassination of Judge Gloria Constanza Gaona," El Colombiano, http://www.fac.mil.co/index.php?idcategoria=62278 (May 2, 2011). |
| Colombia Reports, Tom Heyden, "ELN Sought to Discredit Army with Judge's Murder: Police," http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/15974-eln-sought-to-discredit-army-with-judge-assassination-police.html (May 2, 2011). |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties
Back to Search Results