The Irish NGO Front Line Defenders has published a report which found that Colombia was the most dangerous country in the world for human rights defenders in 2017, with close to half of murders of activists occurring the country.
The report said: ‘In Colombia,the peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was expected to lead to a reduction inviolence; however, the number of murders of HRDs has actually increased since the agreement was signed. Most of the defenders killed were local leaders engaged in social or communal work in their territories and died at the hands of paramilitary or ‘unidentified’ armed actors. Land has been at the root of the armed conflict and, without an appropriate implementation of rural reforms and the dismantling of paramilitary and other armed groups, there will likely be a continuation of the pattern in which demobilised areas see other armed actors rush to gain control of territories previously held by the FARC.’
According to the report, the following people were killed in Colombia during 2017 for their peaceful work around human rights:
Mario Castano Bravo
Mario Jacanamaijoy
Albert Martinez Olarte
Ramon Alcides Garcia Zapata
Eliecer Carvajal
Liliana Patricia Castano Montoya
Miguel Angel Cardona
Ofelia Espinoza De Lopez
Oscar Ferney Tenorio
Jorge Luis Garcia del Rio
Luis Villadiego Puentes
Juana Almazo Epiayu
Nelson Eduardo Velandia Ortiz
Maritza Yuliana Garcia Vinasco
Jose Adalberto Torrijano Andrade
Javier Sevilla Alvarez
Roberto Ortega Maclauslan
José Yimer Cartagena Usuga
Gildardo Antonio Valdés
Luis Edilson Arango Gallego
Fabián Aberto Álvarez Marín
Liliana Astrid Ramírez Martínez
Ezquivel Manyoma
Jimmy Humberto Medina Trujillo
Wilmer Hernández Caicedo
Jairo Arturo Chilito Muñoz
Luis Fernando Gil
Hector William Mina
María Efigenia Vasques
Manuel Ramírez Mosquera
Fernando Rivas Asprilla
Aulio Isararama Forastero
Eugenio Rentería Martínez
Alberto Román Acosta
Katherine Escalante Castilla
Narda Barchilón
Ricardo Córdoba
Iván Martínez
Wilmar Felipe Barona
Efren Santo
José Reyes Guerrero Gaitán
Carlos Augusto Paneso
Daniel Felipe Castro Basto
Jairo Arturo Muñoz
Jesús María Morales Morales
César Augusto Parra
Alciviades de Jesús Largo Hernández
Carlos de Jesús Báez Torres
Eberto Julio Gómez Mora
Miguel Emiro Pérez
José Jair Cortés
Emigdio Dávila
Aldemar Parra García
Miguel Ángel Hoyos
Eberto Julio Gómez Mora
Wilfredy González Noreña
Albenio Isaias Roseo Alvarez
Edenis Barrera Benavides
Fabian Antonio Rivera Arroyave
Eder Cuetia Conda
Falver Cerón Gómez
Hernando Murillo Armijo
Jorge Iván Bigamá Ogarí
Emilsen Manyoma
Edmiro León Alzate Londoño
Wiwa Yoryanis Isabel Bernal Varela
Edilberto Cantillo Meza
Ruth Alicia Lopez Guisao
Javier Oteca Pilcué
Deiner Alexander Mendez Berrío
Diego Fernando Rodriguez
Montenegro
Eliver Buitrago Gutierrez
Luis Genaro Ochoa Sánchez
Camilo Alberto Pinzon Galeano
Rubiela Sánchez Vargas
Idaly Castillo Narváez
Severino Grueso Caicedo
Jose Maria Lemus Téllez
Nelson Fabra Díaz
José Reyes Guerrero Gaitán
Álvaro Arturo Tenorio Cabezas
Mario Andrés Calle Correa
Jorge Arbey Chantre Achipiz
Jáider Jiménez Cardona
Nolberto Lozada Ramón
Gerson Acosta Salazar
Bernardo Cuero Bravo
Mauricio Fernando Vélez Lopez
Segundo Victor Castillo
Ezequiel Rangel Romano
Washington Cedeño Otero