For several years, a small coalition of groups - including Peace Brigades International - had been planning to host Jani Silva, perhaps the most threatened woman in Colombia’s Amazon rainforest.

Jani has been an outspoken environmental defender for years, challenging the expansion of oil operations and other threats to the Amazon Pearl, a biodiverse rainforest region along the Colombia-Ecuador border. She has received innumerable death threats of different varieties, and seen several of her fellow defenders killed for their activism as recently as late 2023.

Video: PBI-Colombia at the Peace Community on March 27, just days after the murder of two community members.

PBI-Colombia has posted on social media: “Urgent. After the murder of two members of @cdpsanjose [the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó], new attacks occur on the territory of the Community. Guarantees, research results and progress in the commitments made by the State are urgently needed.”

PBI-Colombia accompanies the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation as Comprehensive Law on the Rights of Women Searchers receives Senate approval

On April 4 (at 12:05 pm ET), PBI-Colombia posted: “#Rights For Women Seekers At this moment accompanying the @nydia_erika Foundation in the last Senate debate on the draft Law for the Protection of Women Searchers of the #Disappeared.”

On March 8, 2024, PBI-accompanied groups around the world mobilized to commemorate International Women’s Day, now in its 114th year. Women human rights defenders advocate and lobby for human rights within their community and are not only targeted for their activism, but also face gender-specific rights violations. At Peace Brigades International, we stand alongside these women, supporting them to continue their vital work even amidst repression and violence.

Photo: The ESMAD riot police.

On March 8, PBI-Colombia tweeted:

“We accompany @nydia_erika [the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation] to Washington due to the serious situation of impunity for forced disappearance in Colombia and to request the declassification of intelligence files to access information on the whereabouts of the victims and support for the law on women seekers and their protection.”

On November 15, Peace Brigades International brought together environmental human rights defenders from Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Kenya, along with United Nations Special Rapporteur Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, to share insights on frontline struggles and the COP27 summit. To watch the video of the webinar (with original audio), click here.