Violence against human rights workers in Colombia up 2.4% in 2013, murders up 11.6%: Report

Violence against human rights workers in Colombia up 2.4% in 2013, murders up 11.6%: Report
Feb 24, 2014 posted by Alexandra Jolly

Violence against human rights defenders in Colombia rose 2.4% between 2012 and 2013, according to the online human rights publication “D for Defense.”

Some 366 attacks were registered during a tumultuous year for social protest, including 78 murders, 209 death threats, 39 direct assaults and a number of unlawful detentions and information theft.

The homicide statistics, in particular, represent a 12% increase from the previous year.

According to the report, a key factor in the heightened violence was the “police brutality and the stigmatization of protest leaders” that followed the massive countrywide demonstrations that gripped much of the country over the course of the summer and fall.

“The sectors with the highest murder rate are the indigenous fighting against the exploitation of natural resources followed by community leaders and then agricultural farmers,” reads the report.

More:
http://colombiareports.co/murders-human-rights-defenders-2-4-2013/