Nearly 200 environmental activists were killed worldwide in 2023 and Colombia was again the most dangerous country for land and environmental advocates, the Global Witness oenegen said in a report released Tuesday.
About 85 percent of the 196 murders that occurred in 2023 took place in South America, 79 of them in Colombia, the organization said.
This is the highest figure since 2012, when Global Witness began publishing its annual report.
Organized criminal groups are suspected of committing half of the killings of human rights defenders in Colombia in 2023.
Many families have been disproportionately affected by armed conflict, land disputes and human rights violations that have been accentuated by more than half a century of armed conflict, says Global Witness.
A total of 31 of the people killed in Colombia in 2023 were indigenous and six belonged to communities of African descent.
Colombia will host the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity (COP16) in Cali in October and November, raising concerns for the safety of participants.
Colombia is followed by Brazil, with 25 murders in 2023, but this figure fell from 34 murders recorded in 2022.
Global Witness highlights some advances in the South American giant, hand in hand with the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, such as the reactivation of funding aimed at protecting the Amazon and the establishment of the indigenous affairs agency that dismantled former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Third and fourth place are Mexico and Honduras, which each recorded 18 murders of activists in 2023, a decrease for Mexico (compared to 31 of 2022) and an increase for Honduras (since 14 of 2022), which is the country with the highest homicide rate in Central America.
Global Witness notes that in addition to the killings, there have also been a considerable number of enforced disappearances in Mexico.
In the rest of the region, Nicaragua recorded 10 murders of activists, Panama, Guatemala and Peru 4 each, Paraguay 2, Ecuador and Venezuela 1 each.
In Asia, the Philippines tops the list of most dangerous countries for activists, with 17 murders in 2023.
In Africa, Global Witness recorded four killed by activists in 2023, but the Oenegen warns that the figure is likely to be well below reality due to difficulties in accessing information.
In Europe and North America, environmental advocates are also facing increasingly difficult situations. The Oenegé highlights severe – surveillance – and disproportionate penalties – in the European Union.
This article has been translated after first appearing in La Estrella