Violence against Indigenous peoples in Colombia

The Indigenous peoples of Colombia have been subjected to incredible violence in recent decades, ranging from massacres by armed groups to the targeted killings of Indigenous activists and politicians.^[1] Mineral, crop and energy resources on native land have been a driving force behind conflicts in Colombia since its founding, and continue to fuel violence against Indigenous peoples into the present day.^[2][3] In the context of the Colombian conflict, the violence against activists is linked to armed groups vying for control in the aftermath of the 2016 peace deal with the Colombian government, leading to a near-complete absence of the state in parts of Colombia.^[4] In some areas of Colombia, a motive for killing activists is the belief that they may be working with an opposing armed group.^[4] In others, it is because activists support plans to replace cocaine crops with food, and potentially damage the drug economy, or because they support plans to recover land stolen in the conflict.^[4]

In 2021, Genocide Watch issued a genocide emergency for all of Colombia, and stated that Indigenous groups are disproportionately effected by violence in rural areas, displacing them from their ancestral lands, which are then used for coca production to finance the activities of armed groups.^[5]