Colombia is a land with a long history of violence and environmental destruction. Environmental leaders have been systematically murdered in the country for decades. According to reporting by Global Witness and Diálogo Chino, between 2009 and 2022, Colombia was the country with the second highest number of environmental defenders killed in the world: at least 357.
These numbers are unlikely to decrease while the current dynamics of violence and environmental destruction continue, despite official statements that action will be taken to change them.
The killing of environmental defenders in Colombia is a direct consequence of the persistence of a long-lasting and wider conflict the country has been experiencing for decades – a conflict that was not fully resolved with the signing of the peace accords with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia People’s Army) in 2016, and which means the Colombian state is unable to be present in large parts of the country.
The absence of the state translates into the inoperability of the army, security forces and the justice system in territories where violence against environmental defenders and other social leaders is rampant. There, the persistence of illegal economies linked to drug trafficking and illegal mining run by non-state actors, including ELN guerrillas, FARC dissidents, paramilitaries and drug cartels means that affected communities suffer violence with impunity.
As a result, the activity of armed groups engaged in illegal exploitation of natural resources – such as gold and mineral extraction, illegal fishing, deforestation, and land grabbing – are imposing their law by force of arms. And the environmental activists who continue to work to protect the territory from exploitation are paying a high price for their travails.
The Colombian government has taken some measures in recent years to protect environmental activists, such as the signing of the Escazú Agreement, a landmark regional treaty for environmental defenders, or the creation of a National Protection Unit to provide security for activists at risk of assassination. But on-the-ground violence persists and proliferates.
The killing of activists serves as a deterrent against resistance, and has created a climate of fear for those trying to protect their communities and the environment. A report by the Colombian Commission of Jurists, which stated that 131 environmental activists were killed in Colombia between 1 January 2016 and 31 October 2019, also noted that the vast majority of these murders were not investigated or punished. The most affected departments (administrative areas) were Cauca and Valle del Cauca, with 35 and 31 murders respectively, but the situation is untenable elsewhere too, such as in parts of Putumayo and Nariño.
The risks of territorial reporting
The figures are likely to be underreported significantly. Aside from physical difficulties accessing territories controlled by non-state actors, one of the main obstacles to reporting on the Colombian Amazon – which covers 35% of the country – is threats made to the life of journalists. Some investigative work carried out in departments of the Colombian Amazon highlighting injustices and illegalities is slowed down or silenced by the prevailing situation of harassment and intimidation, El País has reported.
José Cote, a Colombian editor and journalist specialised in covering the Amazon, told openDemocracy: “When doing field work in Colombia, we journalists face many dangers, but I would like to talk about one we rarely consider. Many sources have told me: ‘You come here, do the investigation and leave, and we are the ones who have to face the consequences of what you do.’ Most of the time, no matter how discreet you are, in small communities or rural areas everyone knows about the arrival of the journalist and who he or she is interviewing. This situation often endangers the source. The safety of sources is also a journalist’s responsibility.”
A report by the Colombian Foundation for Press Freedom (FLIP) earlier this year found 218 Colombian journalists had been victims of threats in 2022, the highest annual number recorded in the last 15 years. And in the last three years, five journalists have been murdered.
Jonatan Bock, director of FLIP, says in the report that journalists are “the guardians of the territory, who carry out their work amid a violent context”. “Protecting them should be a priority for the state,” he adds.
The Amazon is one of the most silenced regions, according to FLIP. Insecurity and lack of resources mean local and community media, and networks of indigenous communicators, do not report in depth on the seriousness of the events occurring in regions such as Putumayo, according to the FLIP report Cartographies of Information. “In Putumayo,” say the report’s authors, “70% of the population lives in silent municipalities, places where there are no media outlets that produce local news. Only in its capital, Mocoa and Puerto Asís do the inhabitants have a sufficient supply of local information.” In addition, Putumayo has limited internet connectivity, as do the other Amazonian departments, which makes it very difficult to work on the ground.
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