Urgent call for solidarity with Colombia in response to the wave of murders of social activists defending their territories

A statement by Friends of the Earth International and Friends of the Earth Latin America and the Caribbean (ATALC) condemning the murder of social and environmental activists in Colombia during early 2017 and calling for international protection strategies and government action to end the violence.

• In the first 65 days of 2017, 25 defenders of territories were murdered in Colombia, following 80 murders in 2016, according to human rights organizations.
• Specific recent murders include José Antonio Anzola Tejedor and Luz Ángela (activists with the communist party and SINTAGRIM) on 6 March, and Ruth Alicia López Guisao (leader of the National Agrarian Coordination and the Peoples´ Congress) on 2 March in Medellín.
• The document attributes the violence to private and transnational agents seeking capital accumulation and the exploitation of territories for capitalist extractive and green economy projects, which are opposed to environmental and social justice.
• ATALC demands that the Colombian government implement constitutional and legal mechanisms to stop the attacks, identify the perpetrators of selective murders to avoid impunity, and engage in dialogue with the international community to protect defenders.

APA

admin (2017). Urgent call for solidarity with Colombia in response to the wave of murders of social activists defending their territories. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/urgent-call-for-solidarity-with-colombia-in-response-to-the-wave-of-murders-of-social-activists-defending-their-territories/

Chicago

admin. Urgent call for solidarity with Colombia in response to the wave of murders of social activists defending their territories. Friends of the Earth International, 2017. https://www.foei.org/urgent-call-for-solidarity-with-colombia-in-response-to-the-wave-of-murders-of-social-activists-defending-their-territories/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=admin |title=Urgent call for solidarity with Colombia in response to the wave of murders of social activists defending their territories |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=9 March 2017 |url=https://www.foei.org/urgent-call-for-solidarity-with-colombia-in-response-to-the-wave-of-murders-of-social-activists-defending-their-territories/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{admin2017urgent, author = {admin}, title = {{Urgent call for solidarity with Colombia in response to the wave of murders of social activists defending their territories}}, publisher = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2017}, month = mar, url = {https://www.foei.org/urgent-call-for-solidarity-with-colombia-in-response-to-the-wave-of-murders-of-social-activists-defending-their-territories/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }