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One human rights defender in Colombia has been killed every five days in the first half of 2015, according to a new report from the Colombian human rights organization Somos Defensores.
Threats against human rights activists have spiked dramatically this year in Colombia, up 105 percent from the same period last year.
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En Colombia es peligroso defender los derechos de los demás "cada 5 días asesinan un defensor de DDHH" @VerdadAbierta pic.twitter.com/k0GdO0gh2c
— Andrés Gil (@andresgil09)
August 19, 2015
“In Colombia it is dangerous to defend the rights of others, ‘every 5 days a human rights defender is murdered.’”
“Human rights defenders and indigenous, campesino, LGBTI, and community leaders were the common targets of the attacks in the first half of 2015,” said the report, titled “The Nobodies,” published earlier this week.
While a total of 332 rights defenders were threatened in the first six months of 2015, 34 movement leaders and rights activists were murdered in various regions throughout the country.
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The increase in violence toward these activists has brought the total number of assassinations of human rights defenders over more than a decade between January 2002 and June 2015 to 425 deaths.
Due to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes, justice is never served for the majority of victims.
105% year-on-year increase in aggressions against #Colombia human rights defenders: @SomosDef—http://t.co/98RNOxe7pi pic.twitter.com/i2VZ7jbAdO
— Adam Isacson (@adam_wola)
August 17, 2015
Map shows the number of abuses by region.
According to Carlos Guevara of Somos Defensores, the organization that compiled the report, the sharp increase in violence toward rights defenders can be linked to both the ongoing peace process and the lack of political will to investigate these cases, Nodal reported.
“There is a decided lack of political and administrative will to find those responsible for the attacks against defenders of human rights in Colombia,” said Guevara in Nodal, adding that activists working in regions where there is no political interest in pursuing peace are particularly at risk.
RELATED: Colombian Peace Process Timeline
Of the 34 activists killed in the first half of 2015, the vast majority were killed with firearms, while six showed signs of torture and 13 had previously reported threats against them.
About a quarter of the 34 murder victims were indigenous leaders, followed by about 15 percent LGBT activists, with smaller numbers of community leaders, journalists, and other social leaders also killed.
The report comes as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) condemned the Colombian government’s initiatives to advance to peace process as insufficient. On his Twitter account, FARC negotiator Ivan Marquez said “unilateral constructions are not viable” and rejected the special congress proposed by President Juan Manuel Santos as one such unilateral action.
Alleged perpetrators of individual aggressions: 72 percent paramilitary groups, 22 percent unknown, 5 percent security forces, 1 percent ELN guerrillas, 0 perocent FARC guerrillas. I Source: SIADDHH Somos Defensores
The report also signaled a “contradictory indicator” between government claims and the reality of assassinations of rights defenders.
“While the national government insists on the disappearance of paramilitaries, plaintiffs claim the alleged perpetrators of the attacks in this period are 72 percent paramilitaries,” said the report.
RELATED: The Colombian Peace Process Explained
The report urged authorities to acknowledge and address abuses against rights defenders, and stressed the importance of the peace process in upholding human rights.
“We do not tire of saying that in the middle of a very important and historic political situation such as the current one, where seeking peace is being prioritized, that the value of social leadership and of rights defenders is still not measured in the construction of real democracy,” said the report.
“Guaranteeing life and liberty of Colombian social movements is a good down payment for the sustainability of post-armed conflict and peacebuilding.”
