Latin America most dangerous place for human rights activists
Latin America most dangerous place for human rights activists
Almost half of activists killed were linked to defence of indigenous peoples, says group
about 6 hours ago
Ruadhán Mac Cormaic
157 human rights activists were killed or died in detention in 25 countries last year, according to the advocacy group Front Line Defenders.
The organisations tally for the first 11 months of 2015 shows that more than half of those killings (88) took place in Latin America, with Colombia alone accounting for 54 deaths. Outside the Americas, the most dangerous place to be a human rights defender was the Philippines, where 31 targeted killings took place.
The figures are contained in Front Lines annual report, published in Dublin today.
Front Lines executive director, Mary Lawlor, said the environment for human rights defenders around the globe was increasingly restrictive but that international reaction remained weak.
More:
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/latin-america-most-dangerous-place-for-human-rights-activists-1.2486025