The Colombian Ombudsman’s Office has counted a total of 215 homicides of social leaders and human rights defenders in Colombia during the year 2022, a significant increase from 145 the previous year.
This is the year with the highest number of homicides since 2016, when the systematic registration of these attacks through the Early Warning System was launched. Since that date, a total of 1,113 social leaders have been killed: 133 in 2016, 126 in 2017, 178 in 2018, 138 in 2020 and 145 in 2021, according to official data.
The murders in 2022 were concentrated in Nariño (35 cases), Cauca (26), Antioquia (22), Putumayo (22), Valle del Cauca (12), Bolívar (11), Norte de Santander (9) and Chocó and Tolima with 7 cases each.
These are the regions with the highest presence of armed groups, so, according to the Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, there will be progress when Total Peace is achieved.
«It is expected that the dialogues with the ELN and the bilateral ceasefire with other illegal armed groups will also mean a decrease in actions against social leaders and human rights defenders throughout the national territory and an end to this situation», said Camargo in statements to the radio station Caracol Radio.
By victim attributes, the most affected are community leaders (63 murders), indigenous leaders (47), community leaders (36), peasants or agrarian leaders (18), Afro-descendants (12), trade unionists (8), human rights activists (7), cultural or sports activists (5), leaders of population with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity (4) and public servants (3).
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
