One of the deadliest places to defend human rights 

“Colombia remains one of the deadliest places on earth to be a human rights defender,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk reports. The recent years mark a rise in violence against human rights defenders from armed groups and criminal networks, with at least 1,500 human rights defenders killed since 2016.

The Atrato River Basin is exposed to high levels of violence as the region is dominated by armed groups and organized criminal networks engaged in widespread, environmentally destructive illegal mining. This harms the environment, people’s health, and the livelihoods of those who live there. Over the last decade, the Guardians have worked tirelessly and at great personal risk in a complex, violent and unpredictable social and political context.

Through monitoring ecological destruction, educating affected communities, and holding authorities to account, the Collegiate Body of Guardians powerfully demonstrate a community-grounded approach to protection of nature and fundamental human rights. 

Documenting illegal gold mining and ecological crises

Illegal gold mining is one of the largest, fastest growing and most lucrative illicit economic activities and it is particularly widespread across South America. As the global demand for gold and other minerals is expected only to grow for decades to come, placing communities and ecosystems under growing pressure from resource exploitation, their work provides valuable lessons in environmental protection and protection of human rights. 

This poisoned environment undermines the fundamental human rights of local communities, including their rights to a healthy environment, water, food security, and the right to life. Despite minimal resources, the Guardians have continued to monitor and report on areas exposed to illegal mining activities and environmental degradation, ensuring the documentation of the ongoing ecological crises in the region. 

Indigenous, Afro-descendant and rural communities

The Atrato riverbeds are ancestral home to Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities, and for these communities the river is their lifeline – an indispensable source of drinking water, the basis of food systems and a vital means of transport. 

The violence by armed groups disproportionately affects indigenous and Afro-descendent people, their community councils and leaders, as these groups try to destroy the social fabric, to co-opt and to eliminate organizations with a historical presence in the territories. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, has pointed out that several indigenous communities in Colombia were facing “physical and cultural” extinction due to violence by armed groups. 

The Rafto Prize 2026 to the Collegiate Body of Guardians of the Atrato River recognises and celebrates a courageous struggle of these community representatives for environmental justice and fundamental human rights. 

Spokespersons

For media inquiries contact Head of Communications,
Ronja Bell Breisnes
+47 915 19 253
ronja.breisnes@rafto.no

Jostein Hole Kobbeltvedt
Executive Director of the Rafto Foundation
+47 920 66 025
jostein.hole.kobbeltvedt@rafto.no

Elina Troscenko
Head of the Rafto Prize Committee
+47 975 18 200
elina.trosencko@rafto.no

Nicholas Dris Haga
Leader of the Rafto Student Group
+47 920 91 425
nicholas.haga@rafto.no