Bogotá (EFE).- Colombia was the most dangerous country for environmental leaders and defenders in 2022, when 60 murders of environmentalists were reported in “another disastrous year for the country,” according to the latest Global Witness report, a figure that represents almost double that in 2021, when 33 defenders lost their lives for their work.
“Once again, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities, small farmers and environmental activists have been vilely attacked,” said the document published this Tuesday.
However, the organization points out that “there is hope” since Colombian President Gustavo Petro “promised social transformation and greater protection for defenders” when he took office in August of last year, and “no government had committed to before.”
Since the organization began collecting this data in 2012, Colombia has accumulated 382 murders of environmental leaders and defenders, making it “the country with the highest number of murders.”
Environmentalists in Colombia
Last year was “a year of political transition in the country,” the report highlights. “Iván Duque’s government – harshly criticized for its inaction and the resulting ‘genocide’ of social leaders – gave way to Petro’s.” It includes “for the first time” in its political agenda “specifically the need to protect defenders and address the causes of attacks against them.”
“The 2022 figures for Colombia are a sobering reminder of the amount of work that remains to be done urgently,” warned the organization, which applauded the ratification of the Escazú Agreement.
The report highlighted the case of Teófilo Acuña, a leader murdered in February 2022 along with his fellow defender Jorge Alberto Tafur. Both had reported threats just days before his death.
Also the case of Yesid Blanco, a Colombian pediatrician exiled in the United States after receiving threats for his complaints against a toxic landfill in Patio Bonito, in Barrancabermeja, which “has had devastating effects on the health of his community and has been a disaster for the environment”.
Defenders in the world
According to the report, at least 177 environmental defenders were murdered last year. “Although the global figure is slightly lower than in 2021, when 200 murders were recorded, this does not mean that the situation has improved significantly.”
“Non-lethal strategies, such as criminalization, harassment and digital attacks, are increasingly used to silence defenders,” Global Witness warned. He added that “the situation in Latin America remains especially worrying.”
In 2022, the region recorded 88% of murders. “An increasing number” and a total of 11 of the 18 countries in which cases of murders were documented in 2022 were in Latin America. Colombia, Brazil and Mexico lead the list of the most dangerous countries in the world to be defenders of nature.
