The municipality of Toribio has always been a test case for the conflict in Colombia. Over the past 500 years the indigenous “Nasa” tribe developed a strong self defense mechanism that lead to the official foundation of the Indigenous Guard in 2001. The unarmed, volunteer group of over 700 men, woman and children, has found their own way to withstand the constantly changing threats.
Only carrying the “Bastón”, a wooden stick, as a symbol of their authority, it is their responsibility to control the entrances and exits to the territory, find and arrest criminals, protect the population during combats, free hostages and even recover and destroy land-mines. I have been documenting the changes in Toribio over the past 6 years and now, after the signing of the peace treaty, the human rights situation in the area became even worse than before.
