Milena Quiroz Jiménez
Milena Quiroz Jiménez is a spokesperson for the Comisión de Interlocución del Sur de Bolívar, Centro y Sur del Cesar, legal representative of the Cooperativa Multiactiva de Arenal (Comuarenal) and the Consejo Comunitario de Comunidades Negras "Resistencia Cimarrona Casimira Olave Arincon Amela". She is also a member of the Fundación Rescate Cultural (FUREC), and is part of the community radio station "La Negrita de Arenal" in the municipality of Arenal, department of Bolivar.
The last couple of years of a peace process has raised hopes for an end to the decades long conflict that has plagued Colombia. However, the negotiations between the government and the FARCs have not had a significant impact on the safety and security of human rights defenders in the country, which remains one of the countries with the highest rates of killing of HRDs in the world. This situation seems to have deteriorated in 2015 with the UN highlighting the alarming number of HRDs killed, with 69 between January and August 2015, while the number was 35 for the same period in 2014.
