Jeremy Abraham Barrios Lima
Jeremy Abraham Barrios was working as the Assistant to the General Director of CALAS (Centro de Acción Legal Ambiental y Social de Guatemala). CALAS is a human rights organisation based in Guatemala City, which was founded in 2011 by human rights defender Yuri Melini, 2009 Front Line Defenders award winner. CALAS has been active in denouncing abuses committed by mining companies in the region, and working to protect environmental rights. On 12 November 2016, Jeremy Abraham Barrios Lima was shot and killed in Guatemala City.
Human rights defenders (HRDs) in Guatemala are subjected to death threats, physical attacks, acts of harassment, surveillance, stigmatisation, judicial harassment, arbitrary detention, forced disappearance and killings. Many of the violations are carried out by clandestine security structures and illegal groups. The exceptionally high level of impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators increases the risk exponentially for HRDs.
