Killings of social leaders in the Colombian post-conflict: Data analysis for investigative journalism

TL;DR

This paper analyzes official data on the post-2016 killings of social leaders in Colombia, revealing a significant increase and supporting investigative journalism efforts to challenge government claims of systematic violence denial.

Contribution

It provides a detailed data analysis of social leader killings in Colombia post-2016, highlighting the rise in violence and demonstrating how data can inform investigative journalism.

Findings

Significant increase in killings of community leaders after 2016

Official data shows systematic violence against social leaders

Data analysis supported journalistic investigation challenging government denial

Abstract

After the peace agreement of 2016 with FARC, the killings of social leaders have emerged as an important post-conflict challenge for Colombia. We present a data analysis based on official records obtained from the Colombian General Attorney's Office spanning the time period from 2012 to 2017. The results of the analysis show a drastic increase in the officially recorded number of killings of democratically elected leaders of community organizations, in particular those belonging to Juntas de Acci\'on Comunal [Community Action Boards]. These are important entities that have been part of the Colombian democratic apparatus since 1958, and enable communities to advocate for their needs. We also describe how the data analysis guided a journalistic investigation that was motivated by the Colombian government's denial of the systematic nature of social leaders killings.