The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) has posted on social media:
“We continue to forge alliances for life and peace within Indigenous territories.
The ONIC’s Department for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Human Rights, and Peace met with Peace Brigades International to explore collaborative efforts aimed at strengthening the protection of our Indigenous peoples, defending human rights, and securing the guarantees necessary for us to remain in our territories.
The defense of life and peace is built collectively!”
Attacks against Indigenous defenders
The Bogota-based Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz) has documented: “The violence manifested in socio-environmental conflicts [in Colombia] has resulted in the killing of 712 environmental leaders and defenders since the signing of the peace agreement [November 24, 2016 to December 31, 2022]. Of these, 364 are Indigenous people (ancestral custodians of Mother Earth).”
The Global Witness report “Collective Power” (September 2026) has documented: “Colombia remains one of the deadliest places to defend the planet. We were able to confirm 39 killings of defenders in 2025… Almost half of those murdered were Indigenous, and a further 15 were small-scale farmers. …At the heart of this violence is the department of Cauca in southwestern Colombia, where we recorded 13 murders in 2025, including four Indigenous Guards.”
The mission of ONIC
The mission of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) is to: “Strengthen and support indigenous peoples’ self-government and their exercise of authority so that they assume with unity, autonomy and dignity, control of their territories and the realization and defense of their human and collective rights.”
ONIC visits Canada
Earlier this month, representatives from the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC) and the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) visited Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Vancouver, British Columbia to learn about strengthening the financial sovereignty processes of Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous organizations advocating for Indigenous rights in Colombia include ONIC, OPIAC, CRIC as well as the Movement of Indigenous Authorities of Colombia (AICO) and the Tayrona Indigenous Confederation (CIT).
We continue to follow this.
