Stop the Killings
"Stop the Killings" analyzes the root causes of the killing of HRDs in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the Philippines.
The report is based on original research by Comitê Brasileiro de Defensoras e Defensores de Direitos Humanos - CBDDH, (Brazil), Programa Somos Defensores (Colombia), UDEFEGUA (Guatemala), ACI-Participa (Honduras), Comité Cerezo (Mexico) and iDEFEND, Karapatan and Pahra (Philippines).
With a foreword from United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders Michel Forst and introduction by Front Line Defenders Exective Director Andrew Anderson, "Stop the Killings" is a vital resource for understanding the current and alarming increase of killings of human rights defenders globally.
Download the Stop The Killings Report
"This is not random violence. I have become convinced that the incidents in question are not isolated acts but concerted attacks against those who try to embody the ideal of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
Michel Forst, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders
Brazil
View or Download the Brazil chapter in ENGLISH, SPANISH or PORTUGUESE.
In recent years there has been a resurgence of violence against human rights and human rights defenders in Brazil and a reduction in the protection of human rights by the state.
Philippines
View or Download the Philippines chapter in ENGLISH, SPANISH or PORTUGUESE.
The climate of impunity that prevails in the Philippines, combined with the administration’s encouragement of extrajudicial killings of alleged drug users, as well as the increasingly hard line taken by the army towards the national democratic front of the Philippines, has resulted in the serious deterioration in the situation for human rights defenders in the country.
Colombia
View or Download the Colombia chapter in ENGLISH, SPANISH or PORTUGUESE.
In 2018 the Colombian government faces many obstacles to achieving the implementation of the peace agreements, the creation of true peace and the protection of human rights, including: breaches of the peace agreements by the Colombian state itself; refusal by the traditional political class to engage in any process of political reform; aggressive extraction of natural resources in spite of local opposition and the impact on climate change; corruption in the country’s political and economic elites; and a culture of hate exacerbated by extreme right wing segments of the population, all of which are leading the country to a state of social polarisation from which it will be difficult to return.
Mexico
View or Download the Mexico chapter in ENGLISH, SPANISH or PORTUGUESE.
Recent Mexican leaders have expounded on the need for economic growth and opportunity for the country’s 121 million people. They have sought economic progress through a comprehensive free trade pact with the United States and Canada, oil exploration, the privatisation of state enterprises, and reforms in such areas as education, energy, telecommunications, mining and justice, which have prompted large scale protests.
Guatemala
View or Download the Guatemala chapter in ENGLISH, SPANISH or PORTUGUESE.
In Guatemala, an institutional crisis in the state has intensified in recent years, which has brought the country to a political and social crossroads. Debates have begun between those who favour transition from old, violent and corrupt structures entrenched in state institutions and those sectors that seek to return to a clientelist model of privilege for a small but powerful economic elite.
Honduras
View or Download the Honduras chapter in ENGLISH, SPANISH or PORTUGUESE.
Human rights defenders (hrds) in honduras suffer extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment as well as judicial harassment, threats and stigmatisation. Journalists, lawyers, prosecutors, those defending the rights of the LGBTI community, indigenous and Afro- Honduran communities, and those working on environmental and land rights issues are particularly at risk.
For additional information or interviews, please contact Front Line Defenders Media Coordinator Erin Kilbride at erin@frontlinedefenders.org or Jim Loughran who authored the report and manages the HRD Memorial Project at jim@frontlinedefenders.org.
