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Colombia criminalizing instead of protecting human rights defenders: UN rapporteur
by Adriaan Alsema March 5, 2020
While failing to provide protection, Colombia’s authorities criminalize the defense of human rights, a United Nations special rapporteur said Wednesday.
The report of Michel Frost, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, is the latest to fiercely criticize President Ivan Duque‘s administration.
The top UN human rights concluded that “the vast majority of human rights defenders in Colombia are unable to work in a safe and supportive environment. They lack positive social and public recognition and are undermined and criminalized because of their human rights work by State and non-State actors. They are in danger and the risks they face have increased in the three years since the signing of the Peace Agreement.”
At least 323 defenders have been killed since then, against a backdrop of high rates of impunity. Colombia remains the country with the highest number of murdered human rights defenders in Latin America, and threats against them have soared.
UN special rapporteur Michel Forst
More:
https://colombiareports.com/colombia-criminalizing-instead-of-protecting-human-rights-defenders-un-rapporteur/