Nelly Amaya was a human rights defender, political activist and mother of three children. She was a member of Asociación Campesina del Catatumbo – Ascamcat (Peasant Association of Catatumbo), created in 2005 to promote the land rights of campesinos and indigenous communities in the Catatumbo region of Colombia and to defend their access to natural resources. She was also a member of the Norte Santander chapter of the Movimiento de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado – MOVICE (Movement of Victims of State Crimes), a national human rights organisation working with victims of armed conflict, that monitors and seeks justice for human rights violations committed by the State and paramilitaries. She was killed on 16 January 2016, in her home town of San Calixto, in the department of Norte Santander.
Colombia remains one of the countries with the highest rates of killing of HRDs in the world.
