Carmen Mendoza
Carmen Mendoza is a member of MOVICE in Sucre, Colombia. MOVICE is a human rights organisation which monitors human rights violations committed by the state in the context of the armed conflict and calls for state agents and paramilitaries to be brought to justice.
Despite recent peace talks, Colombia remains one of the countries with the highest rates of killing of HRDs in the world. The UN reported that 69 HRDS were killed between January and August 2015 - the number was 35 for the same period in 2014. HRDs are subjected to threats, intimidation, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, physical assaults, torture, killings, illegal searches of their homes and offices and stigmatisation as a result of their activities in defence of human rights. The perpetrators of these abuses are frequently paramilitary groups, many of whom have links to the government or security services, or armed opposition groups.
