Global Witness stressed that, in Colombia, only 5.2 % of the cases registered since 2002 “have been resolved in court.”
Of the 48 homicides registered last year, at least 20 were peasants and 19 people belonging to indigenous communities.
Colombia was in 2024 the country with more murders of environmental activists in the world for the third consecutive year, When registering 48 cases, “one third of all the documented lethal attacks,” the NGO Global Witness reported Tuesday.
Although the annual report reported “a decrease in reprisals against defenders” compared to 79 murders registered in 2023 in the country, The organization warned that this reduction “does not equal a general decrease in violence.”
Of the 48 homicides registered last year, at least 20 were peasants and 19 people belonging to indigenous communities, Including 13 members of the NASA indigenous community in the department of Cauca (southwest), according to the report.
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Impunity in violence
Global Witness stressed that, in Colombia, Only 5.2 % of cases registered since 2002 “have been resolved in court”, A global trend that, according to the organization, is due to the “lack of judicial systems that work.”
“The families of the defenders killed or missing rarely see their attackers before justice. If they are lucky, the direct author, usually a hired hired killer, will be arrested and tried. But the intellectual authors, those who plan and pay the attack, are rarely convicted, “said the report.
The organization pointed to the production of illegal crops and drug trafficking as “a main cause of violence” And he highlighted the “culture of silence” that, for fear, leads to indigenous, peasants and Afro -descendant peoples not to denounce the “environmental damage inflicted by extractive industries”, especially in conflict areas and with the presence of armed groups.
Lack of protection
Of the 48 environmental leaders killed last year in Colombia, At least five requested or received protection.
“There is much to do to ensure that protection measures effectively meet the needs of defenders “, The social leader Jani Silva, of the Sustainable Perla Amazon Sustainable Development Association (Adispa) said in the report.
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Silva said that earlier this year he was aware that The National Protection Unit of Colombia (UNP) wanted to withdraw the measures Because, according to the state entity, “recent victimizers had occurred.”
“I often do not report each of the security incidents because it means getting in touch with the State Attorney General’s Office and making many statements that rarely serve for something,” he said.
The activist explained that they finally kept protection “because someone from The United Nations contributed documentation on a recent incident. “
