The International Office for Human Rights Action on Colombia

37 human rights defenders killed in the last six months, the EU must call upon the Colombian State to offer real guarantees for their work

Press release on the occasion of the National Human Rights Day in Colombia.

Today is National Human Rights Day in Colombia. The figures for human rights violations are shocking across the board: this is one of the countries with the most internally displaced persons in the world, where the most trade unionists are killed, with the highest number of victims of landmines in the Western hemisphere and a shocking number of murders of human rights defenders: 37 defenders were murdered in the first six months of this year alone. This means that one human rights defender is murdered every five days in Colombia.

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Our solidarity is universal.

We are deeply concerned about all victims of armed conflict, repression and violence around the world — from Sudan to Syria, including the persecution of the Rohingya and so many other crises that often receive less international attention than they deserve. Each of these situations calls for solidarity, remembrance, justice and action.

However, we have decided to specifically highlight the message ‘Stop Genocide in Palestine’ because what is happening in Palestine represents not only a human tragedy of enormous magnitude, but also a direct challenge to the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law and to the rules-based international system itself. The indifference and complicity of much of the international community in the face of the apartheid regime imposed by the Israeli government on the Palestinian people represent one of the greatest moral and political contradictions of our time.

The persistent violation of essential norms — such as the protection of the civilian population, the prohibition of collective punishment and respect for proportionality in the use of force — not only has devastating consequences for the Palestinian population, but also erodes the global mechanisms designed to limit the power of states and prevent abuses.

When these rules are repeatedly breached without any effective consequences, the framework that protects all populations in conflict situations, anywhere in the world, is weakened. Therefore, speaking out in this case does not mean ignoring other forms of suffering, but rather emphasising the urgency of defending an international order which, if it collapses, leaves everyone in a more vulnerable position.

Drawing attention to this situation is, therefore, an act consistent with the universal values we uphold: the protection of life, human dignity and respect for international law, without exception.

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