On 1 September 2026, Indigenous human rights defender María Ovidia Palechor and her partner James Flor were shot and killed in their home in Cajibío, Cauca department. María Ovidia Palechor was a highly respected indigenous defender of women’s rights, human and territorial rights and a well-known peace activist. She coordinated the women’s and human rights...
SOCIAL LEADERS, HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AND SIGNATORIES OF AGREEMENTS MURDERED IN 2024, 2025 AND 2026. According to Indepaz’s monitoring of political violence and human rights abuses, Colombia continues to face persistent violence against social leaders, human rights defenders and former FARC combatants who signed the 2016 Peace Agreement. Indepaz reports that 187 social leaders and...
‘We won’t give up, we’ll keep fighting’: activists in Colombia vow to resist far-right push for fossil fuels. Colombia has become a key battleground in the global struggle between environmental defenders and a resurgent far right aligned with fossil-fuel interests. It focuses on activists, Indigenous communities, Afro-Colombian groups and local organisations resisting oil, coal and...
Gustavo Gallón, human rights defender and Colombian ambassador in Geneva, dies. Colombian human rights lawyer, academic and diplomat Gustavo Gallón, who served as Colombia’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva since 2022, has died in Switzerland after a period of serious illness. Widely regarded as one of Colombia’s foremost human rights defenders, Gallón founded...
New Allegations Emerge Over Gustavo Petro Administration’s Talks With Clan del Golfo. President Petro is making a final effort to secure a legacy for his “Total Peace” policy through negotiations with the criminal organisation known as the Clan del Golfo, despite mounting setbacks and criticism. The talks have become increasingly controversial following the release of...
“Cúcuta is a city silenced by fear”: journalist receives death threats. Ignacio “Nacho” Arango, director of the digital news outlet Noticias Cúcuta 75, described Cúcuta as “a city silenced by fear”, arguing that journalists, social leaders and ordinary citizens face constant intimidation from criminal groups, corruption networks and armed actors. In an interview following the...
Hitmen kill journalist Cristian Herrera in Cúcuta. Journalist Cristian Herrera Nariño was shot dead by hired gunmen on 6 June in the Quinta Oriental neighbourhood of Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, after being ambushed while visiting relatives. A veteran crime and conflict reporter, former editor of Q’Hubo and reporter for La Opinión, Herrera was widely respected...
Twelve soldiers injured in explosive attack on battalion in Riohacha (La Guajira). Twelve Colombian soldiers were injured in an explosive attack near the Cartagena Mechanised Infantry Battalion in Riohacha, La Guajira, on the night of 26 May, in an incident the Colombian military has preliminarily attributed to the ELN. Defence Minister Pedro Sánchez later offered...
In May 2026, The Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ) highlighted the importance of Special Jurisdiction for Peace’s (JEP) ruling in the Macro-Case 03, Caribbean Region sub-case, concerning extrajudicial executions. The ruling concluded that, between January 2002 and July 2005, the Popa Battalion killed and forcibly disappeared 135 people, who were then falsely presented as killed in...
Second Follow-up Report on Recommendations: Situation of human rights defenders and social leaders in Colombia. This report published by Indepaz within the framework of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), assesses progress since the 2016 Peace Agreement and concludes that serious structural problems persist in the protection of these groups, despite some institutional advances....
