According to a study by the NGO Front Line Defenders, Colombia was responsible for almost half of the murders of human rights defenders in the world in 2023: 146 crimes were committed in Colombia against this population, particularly indigenous people.
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The 146 victims Colombian occupy a large part of the list of names listed in the report Front Line Defendersalmost half.
This record proportion illustrates the escalation of the conflict in territories where armed groups clash for control of drug trafficking and illegal mining.
Rural areas where indigenous populations campaign for their rights to land, protection of the environment or who denounce collusion between the authorities and criminal groups.
New explosion of violence
According to the NGO, a third of Colombian victims are indigenous people, peasants and Afro-descendants who are frequently designated as military targets by armed actors.
Violence has exploded again in recent weeks in the departments of Cauca and Caqueta, in the southwest of the country, at the instigation of dissident groups of the former FARC guerrillas opposed to peace negotiations with the government, negotiations within the framework of the total peace desired by President Gustavo Pétro and which have been slipping for months.
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