Colombia, the country where human rights defenders are killed the most: NGO Front Line Defenders

The organization recorded that 79% of the murders occurred in America, with Colombia being the country most affected by this situation, where 142 cases were reported, making it the most dangerous country for activists, followed by Mexico (30), Brazil (24 ) and Honduras (19).

“Human rights defenders in Colombia work in a violent and unsafe environment, subjected to threats, intimidation, arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, physical attacks, acts of torture, homicides, illegal raids on their homes and offices, and stigmatization. all of this as a consequence of their activities in defense of human rights,” the organization noted.

In conflict areas such as Palestine, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, homicide numbers are low. However, Front Line Defenders warns that more undocumented killings are likely to occur due to the dismantling of human rights groups, death threats and surveillance in many regions of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The report also reveals that 49 women and 14 members of the LGTBIQ+ community were murdered, with the indigenous population being the most affected, recording 92 homicides in countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and the Philippines. Additionally, 64 environmental defenders were murdered.

In America, defenders of indigenous peoples and land rights were the most persecuted. The report notes that energy projects, mainly financed by investments from the global northperpetuate extractivist models and reproduce violent dynamics in local communities.

Although Colombia was the country with the most homicides, the organization expresses concern for other countries such as Honduras, where 2023 was marked by lethal violence against defenders, with 14 murders.

In Mexico, forced disappearances remain a constant risk for defenders, with more than 113,000 disappearances, especially affecting indigenous people and those who protect the environment and the land.