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Murders targeting “social leaders or human rights defenders” in Colombia are nevertheless down from the previous year.
The government of conservative President Ivan Duque (centre) accuses drug-related gangs of being behind the killings.
AFP
At least 145 human rights defenders were murdered in Colombia in 2021, a figure down from the previous year, but which confirms the resurgence of violence in the country since the 2016 peace agreement, according to the office of the Defender of the people. In 2021, “145 homicides of social leaders or human rights defenders” were recorded, said in a press release this public entity which monitors respect for human rights in the country.
182 murders in 2020
In 2020, 182 assassinations had been recorded. According to the Defender of the People, 32 indigenous representatives, 16 peasant leaders and seven trade unionists are among the victims in 2021. “We reject these facts which are mainly due to the criminal actions of illegal armed groups”, declared the Defender of the People, Carlos Camargo , without giving details of the alleged perpetrators of these attacks.
Since the signing of the peace agreement with the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in 2016, murders against social leaders have been recurrent. Social organizations accuse FARC dissidents, fighters from the National Liberation Army (ELN) — the last active guerrilla in Colombia — drug traffickers and paramilitary groups of being behind the killings.
Three departments – Antioquia, Cauca and Valle del Cauca – corridors of drug trafficking, are particularly affected. Colombia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for activists, according to several NGOs. Global Witness identified it as the deadliest for environmental defenders (65 dead in 2020).
The government of conservative President Ivan Duque accuses drug-related gangs of being behind the killings. Colombia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine, is experiencing the worst outbreak of violence since the signing of the 2016 peace accord.
(AFP)