(Bogota) Police in Bogota are hunting for the killer of Norberto Salamanca, an attorney who was a strong advocate of same-sex couple rights.

Police say they have few clues in the slaying and do not know if it is related to his work on behalf of gay couples.

A notary, Salamanca was licensed to record same-sex partnerships and became famous for the large number of couples who sought him out.

In April, Colombia’s Constitutional Court ruled that the government must extend health and pension benefits to same-sex partners.

The ruling said that to exclude same-sex partners would violate the principle of non-discrimination and human dignity as the expression of personal autonomy, protected by international law.

Last year the Constitutional Court ruled that gay and lesbian couples must have the same property rights as opposite-sex couples.

In that case, the court carefully noted the decision did not automatically permit civil unions. That issue, it said, was up to the Congress.

Colombia’s Congress then passed legislation giving same-sex couples most of the same rights as opposite-sex married couples, but the bill died in a procedural move by conservative senators.

The reversal came after the powerful Catholic Church in Colombia warned lawmakers they were violating Vatican policy and could be denied the sacraments.

President Alvaro Uribe had said he would sign the bill into law.

The Colombian Congress has discussed more than six legislative initiatives related to same-sex partnerships benefits in the last 10 years. None of them have been enacted into law.