The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly abbreviated as OHCHR, found that in just 8 months, there had been 138 alleged deaths of human rights activists in 2024. What’s even worse is that this is an ongoing issue that will only get worse if it is not stopped. For the same time period, from January to August in 2023, there had been 157 people murdered. 

While Colombia does have ways to combat this issue, they are not effective enough to actually aid the problem. The policies and laws that had been put into place specifically to defend human rights activism are often not upheld enough to where they can protect those who are fighting for the rights of all Colombian citizens. 

Without the help of human rights activists in Colombia, there are numerous problems that all result in the detriment of Columbians. For instance,  there are higher instances of excessive violence inflicted from police onto unassuming citizens. 191 cases of police violence had been recorded within a 1 year span. To add, there has also been increased rates of discrimination especially against Indigenous people and people with African descent. Lastly, gender-based violence was also becoming increasingly common, as there had been 483 reported deaths of women and girls in 2023. 

Due to this, many Colombians are scared for the future of their country. Many feel that they do not have freedom of expression, and instead walk around without feeling backed up by the justice system or laws put into place to prevent or address the previously mentioned injustices.

As we have seen throughout history again and again, this situation will only serve to harm the citizens of Colombia and serve as a cruel reminder of the social injustices that still exist in our society today. While we cannot offer our direct support to the many individuals facing this issue, it is important that we keep them in our minds and speak out about the lack of human rights in Colombia in hopes of drawing attention to the lack of regulations against this problem. Despite being around 4,000 miles away, we should still try out best to fight this issue of a lack of human rights. After all, being human is what ultimately unites us all.

Works Cited

Amnesty International. “Colombia 2020 Archives.” Amnesty International, www.amnesty.org/en/location/americas/south-america/colombia/report-colombia/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

Defensoria del Pueblo. “51% de Casos de Reclutamiento Conocidos Por La Defensoría Corresponde a Niñas, Niños Y Adolescentes de Pueblos Indígenas – Defensoria.” Defensoria, 2024, www.defensoria.gov.co/-/51-de-casos-de-reclutamiento-conocidos-por-la-defensor%C3%ADa-corresponde-a-ni%C3%B1as-ni%C3%B1os-y-adolescentes-de-pueblos-ind%C3%ADgenas. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

International Committee of the Red Cross. “The Human Cost of Armed Conflicts in Colombia.” Www.icrc.org, 26 Mar. 2024, www.icrc.org/en/document/human-cost-armed-conflicts-colombia. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

US Department of State. “Colombia.” United States Department of State, 2023, www.state.gov/reports/2023-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/colombia/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

“World Report 2025: Rights Trends in Colombia.” Human Rights Watch, 19 Dec. 2024, www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/colombia. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.