The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) made an “urgent” call to the Government to “immediately stop the physical and cultural extermination that the indigenous peoples of Colombia are experiencing”, after 2022 was the “most violent year ” for these communities since the signing of the Peace Agreement.
According to the organization’s Human Rights Observatory, 2022 was the most violent year for indigenous peoples since the Peace Agreement was signed in 2016, while indigenous victims of human rights violations have increased by more than 100%, Going from 6,381 victims in 2017 to 453,018 in 2022, the ONIC warned in a statement.
In 2022, a total of 543,000 victims were reported, with the crime of confinement causing the greatest impact -433,580-, followed by forced displacement -8,183- and harassment -7,711-victims. These three affectations generated more than 60% of the victims.
Of the 115 indigenous peoples that exist in Colombia, 50 were affected by these violations of their human rights.
The Zenú people were the most affected with a total of 238,010 victims; It is followed by the Embera nation with 148,703 people affected, mostly by the imitation imposed on their free mobility within their ancestral territory; and the Awá people with 12,465 victims of confinement, massive displacement and harassment.
On the other hand, the ONIC indicated that in these first two months of the year there have already been human rights violations such as the femicide of Deisy Marileidy Naucil, from the Inga people, the murder of Taita Marcos López Enríquez and the risk of the Awá people for clashes with armed groups in the department of Nariño.
The most recent affectation occurred on Thursday in the department of Meta when the Sikuani people, located in the municipality of Puerto Gaitán, were “dispossessed and illegally displaced” from their ancestral territory, denounced the ONIC.
These figures and the human rights situation of indigenous peoples led the ONIC to “demand” the Government, State institutions, and the international community to “intervene to stop the physical and cultural extermination of indigenous peoples in Colombia.”