Rights Activist Found Slain in Northwest

A human rights activist was found shot dead in Colombia’s northwestern region, which is dominated by right-wing paramilitary groups, authorities said. Police said Jesus Ramiro Zapata’s bullet-riddled body was found Thursday outside Segovia in Antioquia province. Police said Zapata, 42, a teacher who headed the Segovia Human Rights Committee, was abducted by gunmen a day earlier. Friends and family members blamed a paramilitary death squad for the slaying of Zapata. He had been the target of death threats since 1996, when he linked a local army commander to a massacre of 15 townspeople in Segovia, according to El Espectador newspaper.