At least 78 rights defenders killed in Colombia in 2021 - UN

FILE PHOTO: Overview of the session of the Human Rights Council during the speech of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, February 27, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

BOGOTA (Reuters) -At least 78 human rights defenders were killed in Colombia in 2021, the United Nations human rights agency said on Thursday, adding that more cases were still being verified.

Violence against human rights defenders, environmentalists and community activists - known collectively in Colombia as social leaders - has become a big challenge for President Ivan Duque's government amid international criticism and demands that it do more to stop the killings.