In solidarity with Misael Socarrás Ipuana and with the defenders of land, the environment and human rights in La Guajira, Colombia

The undersigned national and international organizations express our strongest condemnation of the attack perpetrated on December 12 of this year against the Wayúu indigenous defender Misael Socarrás Ipuana, when unidentified individuals fired from a motorcycle at the vehicle in which he was traveling.

We endorse the statement published by Colectivo de Abogados y Abogadas José Alvear Restrepo (Cajar), Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular (Cinep), Censat Agua Viva – Amigos de la Tierra Colombia, and Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA), which denounces these events and demands that the State immediately clarify what happened; identify and punish those materially and intellectually responsible; adopt immediate and urgent measures for the protection of the life and physical integrity of Misael Socarras and his family; and adopt urgent actions to protect people at risk for defending the territory in La Guajira, Colombia.

We have known Misael Socarras Ipuana for many years through his tireless work in defense of the territory and the defense of the Bruno Stream in La Guajira, which is affected by the mining expansion of El Cerrejón, the largest open-pit coal mine in Latin America, owned by the Swiss transnational mining company Glencore.

The attack against human rights defender Misael Socarrás Ipuana is not an isolated incident. It is part of a systematic pattern of threats, attacks, and stigmatization directed at him, as well as other human rights defenders protecting their territories, for many years. For this reason, we express our deep concern about the persistent structural violence faced by those who defend territory, land, the environment, and human rights, particularly in La Guajira, Colombia, and in Latin America in general.

Demands and requests

Faced with this alarming reality, we request the following:

1. We call upon the National Protection Unit and the Colombian State to develop a contingency plan for La Guajira, given the ongoing violence in the region, including the presence of armed groups. We also request an individual protection plan to guarantee the life, safety, and security of Misael Socarrás Ipuana, his family, his community, and all human rights defenders at risk.
2. The Ombudsman's Office, within the framework of Early Warning 010-2025 - issued in July of this year, due to the risk of violations of the rights to life, personal integrity, freedom, security and violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) - should adopt urgent and specific actions to protect people at risk for the defense of their territory and common goods, with special attention to those who have denounced the impacts of coal mining and the territorial control of armed groups.
3. We call upon the judicial authorities and relevant state entities in Colombia to initiate prompt, independent, and thorough investigations to identify and punish those who ordered and carried out the attack, including any possible links that may exist with the Cerrejón mine, the company Glencore and its partners, putting an end to historical impunity in these cases.
4. The Ministry of Environment, should commit to the full implementation of regional and international instruments, such as the Escazú Agreement, in order to implement immediate and defined actions to guarantee the protection of environmental defenders at risk; and put into action the Roundtable on the Situation of Human Rights and Environmental Defenders in La Guajira.

We call upon national and international human rights and environmental organizations to raise their voices in response to this grave situation and the risk faced by Misael Socarrás Ipuana. The Wayúu people cannot continue to be threatened, harassed, and intimidated with attacks against their leaders. We urge state entities and international organizations to heed the repeated complaints from La Guajira, to recognize the gravity of the situation, and to guarantee real protection mechanisms for social and environmental leaders who defend their territories.

Regional and national context in which the attack takes place

The attack against Misael Socarrás has occurred within a continuous context of violence against land defenders in Latin America, particularly in Colombia:

●    In 2024, at least 146 land and environmental defenders were killed worldwide for their peaceful activism, according to Global Witness' annual report. This brings the total number of documented cases since 2012 to at least 2,253.

●    82% of these attacks occurred in Latin America, where the majority of cases are persistently concentrated, year after year.

●    Colombia was the country with the highest number of murders of environmental and territorial defenders in 2024, with 48 cases, making it the deadliest country in the world for those who defend the land and the environment for the third consecutive year.

●    Reports from Front Line Defenders and the HRD Memorial indicate that at least 324 human rights defenders (HRDs) from 32 countries were killed in 2024. Of these, at least one-fifth worked defending land rights, civil rights, and the rights of Indigenous peoples. The country with the highest number of documented killings was Colombia, with 157 cases.

Given this situation, national and international organizations have indicated that Colombia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for human rights and territorial defenders, with thousands of defenders murdered or attacked in the last decade. Violence against defenders is not only expressed in assassinations, but also in criminalization, arbitrary detentions, smear campaigns, threats, and judicial persecution in multiple countries, which exacerbates their risk. The objective is to silence the voices of defenders who protect their territories. This is why the undersigned organizations are issuing this statement.

Signatory organisations: 

1. Act for Tomorrow - DR Congo 
2. Aid/Watch - Australia
3. Alyansa Tigil Mina - Philippines
4. Asamblea Argentina mejor sin TLC - Argentina
5. Asociación Telar - Germany 
6. Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany
7. ATTAC - Argentina
8. Ausgeco2 - Germany
9. Bench-Marks Foundation - South Africa
10. Canadian Union of Public Employees - New Brunswick (CUPE NB) - Canada
11. Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) - UK
12. CEDAR project at St. Thomas University - Canada
13. Centre for Natural Resources Governance (CNRG) - Zimbabwe
14. Centro Hondureño de Promoción Para el Desarrollo Comunitario (CEHPRODEC) - Honduras
15. Centro Sociojurídico SIEMBRA - Colombia
16. Coal Action Network - UK
17. Coalition for Responsible Energy Development in New Brunswick (CRED-NB) - Canada
18. Colombia Solidarity Campaign - UK
19. Comité para la Defensa del Agua y el Páramo de Santurbán - Colombia
20. Corporación de Apoyo a Comunidades Populares (CODACOP) - Colombia
21. Corporación Comité Cívico por los Derechos Humanos del Meta (CCDHM) - Colombia
22. Earth Thrive - UK/Serbia
23. Eau Secours - Québec, Canada
24. End Cement - Germany
25. FreeBruno - Germany
26. Front Line Defenders
27. Global Justice Now - UK
28. Institute for Policy Studies - Global Economy Program - US
29. Kolko - Derechos Humanos por Colombia e.V. - Germany
30. London Mining Network - UK
31. Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre - Canada
32. Melbourne Rainforest Action Group - Australia
33. Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN) - Canada
34. MiningWatch Canada
35. Organización regional no gubernamental para la política de desarrollo de Baden-Württemberg - Germany
36. Pastoral Rural y de la Tierra, Puerto Leguizamo Putumayo - Colombia
37. Plano Negativo - Colombia
38. Plataforma América Latina mejor sin TLC - Latin America
39. Rainforest Information Centre - Australia
40. Regroupement Vigilance Mines de l’Abitibi et du Témiscamingue - Québec, Canada
41. Rettet den Regenwald - Germany
42. Revuelta Malcriada - Bolivia
43. Rural Women’s Assembly - Southern Africa
44. Salva la Selva - Spain
45. Still Burning - Germany
46. TerraJusta - Bolivia
47. The Gaia Foundation - Global
48. Transnational Institute (TNI) - Global
49. Tutela Legal Dra. María Julia Hernández - El Salvador
50. War on Want - UK
51. Yes to Life No to Mining / Si a la Vida No a la Mina - Global
52. Funvipas- Diocesis de San Vicente del caguán-caquetá colombia
53. Comité Arrêt des rejet et émissions toxique (ARET) Rouyn-Noranda
54. Financial Justice Ireland
55. Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights 
56. Corporación Desarrollo y Paz del Magdalena Medio
57. re/presentare - México
58. Experimentos en Historia, Teoría y Crítica (eHTC) - Costa Rica
59. NoCoalectivo - Alemania
60. Fachschaftsintiative del Lateinamerika Institut de la Freie Universitaet Berlin - Alemania
61. United Balkans Resistance and Labour (ZBOR)
62. Alliance for Land, Indigenous, and Environmental Defenders (ALLIED)
63. Mères au front de Rouyn-Noranda