ABColombia expresses its profound concern at the death threat against lawyer Yessika Hoyos, a member of the José Alvear Restrepo Collective (Cajar) and three members of the National Movement of Victims of State Crimes (Movice) in the department of Sucre: Candelaria Barrios Acosta, Malena Martínez Montoya and Juan David Díaz Chamorro.
The threat is believed to be related to the conviction of William Martínez Santamaría, the former director of Comfasucre, the Family Compensation Fund of Sucre, who a month ago was sentenced to 27 years in prison for the killing of three brothers in the village of La Guaripa, in Sucre, in January 2018.
Hoyos represented the victims in this court case and Movice accompanied the family of the three brothers in their search for justice.
The message sent to Hoyos, Barrios, Martínez and Díaz appears to be threatening reprisals if Martínez Santamaría goes to prison.
Colombia continues to be the country where the highest number of defenders are killed annually. Beteeen January and August 2026, at least 112 social leaders and human rights defenders were kilked. Colombia’s Constitutional Court declared the situation an unconstitutional state of affairs due to the lack of guarantees for their work (Judgment SU-546 of 2023).
Given the current context in Colombia, ABColombia joins with CAJAR lawyers in calling for the international community and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, to monitor the situation and to support the defenders by proactively following up on the State’s response.