Colombia reports 215 human rights defenders murdered in 2022

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s human rights watchdog is reporting that 215 human rights advocates were killed last year, the highest death toll since a peace accord was signed with leftist rebels in 2016. One of the last victims of 2021 was José Ricaurte Quintero, who founded the Maná Survivors Association. He was assassinated in the street in Armenia in December. His group supported families of people who disappeared during more than five decades of armed conflict in Colombia. The ombudsman’s office says the murders coincide with places that are strategically important to organized crime groups involved in drug trafficking, illegal mining and contraband.