A/HRC/10/32 page 21 government officials have criticized their work publicly on numerous occasions. During the mass protests in March 2008 against crimes committed by members of paramilitary groups, it was clear that there had been a breakdown in the dialogue between some parts of civil society and the Government. As a result, the joint drafting of a National Action Plan on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law remains stalled. 79. OHCHR Colombia recognizes the Government’s efforts to strengthen the protection programme of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice, which provides for the protection of human rights defenders, among others. However, the challenge of minimizing the risks to the life and safety of human rights defenders still stands, most notably owing to the stigmatization of their legitimate work. 2. Indigenous peoples and communities and Afro-Colombian groups 80. Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities and peoples are particularly vulnerable, mainly because they occupy territories of strategic importance to parties to the internal armed conflict and drug trafficking rings. These lands are also of strategic value to Colombian and foreign companies. The rights of these communities to life, not to be forcibly displaced, to prior, free and informed consultation on decisions affecting them, and to freedom of movement are violated.40 81. Afro-Colombian populations in Nariño and Chocó, as well as the Awá, Nasa, Embera Katío, Sikuani and Makaguan indigenous peoples, have been especially hard hit by forced displacement in the context of the armed conflict. Likewise, certain indigenous communities among the Kogui in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the Emberá in Chocó and the Awá and Eperara Siapidaara in Nariño and Cauca have reported serious restrictions to their freedom of movement. 82. Indigenous communities such as the Kofán and the Siona in Putumayo, the Coreguage in Caqueta, Eperara Siapidaara in Cauca and the Guayabero and Makú in Guaviare are at imminent risk of extinction. In Vaupes, 12 of the 23 indigenous peoples have fewer than 1,000 members. 83. In November 2008, several indigenous organizations mobilized in pursuit of their communities’ legitimate rights. Among the issues of concern to these communities, concerns which the Afro-Colombians share, particular emphasis was placed on collective rights and Colombia. Once this became known, the Attorney-General’s Office took action and dismissed the prosecutor responsible for the decision. 40 As of October 2008, the Office of the Vice-President had reported 54 murders of members of indigenous peoples and communities. The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) reported a total of 66 victims for the same period. Of particular concern was the army’s killing, under circumstances that are not very clear, of the husband of a leading member of the Cauca Regional Indigenous Council (CRIC) in December 2008. The United Nations system in Colombia condemned the killing in a statement. There are no official reports of murders of Afro-Colombians, but OHCHR Colombia has received information of the killing of four of their leaders in Nariño alone.