Subject: Human Rights Watch Amicus Curiae on abuses against human rights defenders
José Miguel Vivanco, on behalf of Human Rights Watch, located at 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor, New York, United States, presents this amicus brief to the Honorable Constitutional Court of Colombia in the case T8018193, 11001310304520200002500 concerning ongoing abuses against human rights defenders and social leaders in Colombia. We respectfully state:
Purpose and Summary of this Submission
Human Rights Watch respectfully requests that the Colombian Constitutional Court accept this submission and consider its factual and legal arguments, which are relevant to the court’s assessment of this case.
Human Rights Watch regularly monitors the human rights situation in Colombia, including killings and other abuses against human rights defenders and social leaders in the country. Most recently, in February 2021, Human Rights Watch published a comprehensive report documenting killings of human rights
Left Undefended: Killings of Rights Defenders in Colombia’s Remote Communities
Format
Colombia: Protection Gaps Endanger Rights Defenders - Over 400 Killings of Community, Other Leaders Since 2016
(Washington, DC) Armed group killings of human rights defenders are pervasive across Colombia, yet the government is dragging its feet in carrying out policies to prevent them, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 127-page report, Left Undefended: Killings of Rights Defenders in Colombia s Remote Communities, documents killings of human rights defenders in the country in the last five years, as well as serious shortcomings in government efforts to prevent them, protect defenders, and hold those responsible to account. Over 400 human rights defenders have been killed in Colombia since 2016, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The 127-page report, “Left Undefended: Killings of Rights Defenders in Colombia’s Remote Communities,” documents killings of human rights defenders in the country in the last five years, as well as serious shortcomings in government efforts to prevent them, protect defenders, and hold those responsible to account. Over 400 human rights defenders have been killed in Colombia since 2016, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
“Colombia has had the highest number of human rights defenders killed of any Latin American country in recent years, but the government’s response has been mostly talk, with little meaningful action,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “The administration of President Iván Duque frequently condemns the killings, but most of the government systems to address the problem are barely functional or have serious shortcomings.”