A/HRC/43/51/Add.1 assassination of 167 indigenous leaders since the signing of the Peace Agreement. 59 At least 21 land and environmental defenders and 6 Afro-Colombian defenders were killed in 2018.60 37. For ethnic defenders, the lack of free and informed prior consultation, or inadequate consultation, in relation to the prospecting or exploitation of existing resources on their land, the transfer of their land or the relocation of their communities off their land is a major risk factor. The lack of prior consultation or inadequate prior consultation is also an additional source of violations of the rights of these communities that effectively deprives them of their ancestral lands and natural resources and of their right to participate in decisions on matters that concern them.61 38. By way of example, in 2006 the right of the indigenous Bari people to prior consultation was respected only after they took legal action to defend their territories from the presence and activities of the Colombian State-owned company Ecopetrol.62 Other legal actions undertaken by indigenous defenders in 2011 demanding the recognition and legal protection of what they consider the entirety of their ancestral territories (expansion of their indigenous reserves) remain pending, despite the favourable ruling of the Constitutional Court (T-052) in 2017. The pending application will now have to address new claims that have arisen over the years, including the demand to establish a campesino reserve area63 and the expansion of African palm monoculture recently announced by the Government without prior consultation64 (despite the fact that this is compulsory pursuant to an order by the Court) on part of the territories claimed by the indigenous defenders.65 39. The Bari indigenous people and their leaders also face risks associated with defending their territory against the control of illegal armed groups, which have recently been reconfigured since the signing of the agreements, such as the ELN, the People’s Liberation Army and the FARC-EP dissidents. In 2018, a leader and another member of the indigenous community were shot by presumed ELN members. According to the information received, the protection measures offered by the National Protection Unit to the affected leaders and communities are inadequate. 40. The Special Rapporteur is concerned about the various legislative initiatives on the right to prior consultation of ethnic groups, which could represent a step backwards. The Colombian State has an obligation to respect international law and the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court in relation to the right to free, prior and informed consultation of these peoples.66 41. The Special Rapporteur also heard testimony from environmental activists, including campesino associations and movements, on the challenges they face in defending the environment against corporate and State interests. The Ríos Vivos Antioquia Movement, composed of 15 grass roots social organizations, reports having suffered serious attacks in carrying out its work in defence of the environment and the human rights of the communities affected by the construction of the Ituango hydroelectric dam by Empresas Públicas de Medellín. 42. The Ríos Vivos Antioquia Movement reported 151 incidents between 2013 and February 2018. 67 The killing of human rights defender Nelson Giraldo Posada and the threats received by other members of the Movement have been the subject of two 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 GE.19-22542 www.telesurtv.net/news/indigenas-colombia-asesinados-acuerdo-paz-20190904-0009.html. Somos Defensores, 2018 annual report, p. 92. OHCHR, El Derecho de los Pueblos Indígenas a la Consulta Previa, Libre e Informada, 2014, pp. 16–19, and OHCHR, El Derecho de las Comunidades Afrocolombianas a la Consulta Previa, Libre e Informada, 2014, pp. 22–24. Decision T-880/06 of the Colombian Constitutional Court, 26 October 2006. www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2017/t-052-17.htm. www.laopinion.com.co/economia/aprueban-credito-de-8400-millones-para-sembrar-palma-de-aceiteen-la-gabarra-184603#OP. See Act No. 21 of 1991 and the following rulings of the Constitutional Court: T/201-17 of 3 April 2017; SU-039 of 21 February 1997; T-002 of 2017, and SU-123 of 15 November 2018. Ibid. Information leaflet Movimiento Ríos Vivos Antioquia, 2018, pp. 4–12. 11