Bogota, February 29 (RHC)-- In Colombia, 51-year-old social leader Cristóbal Anaya González was found dead with a gunshot to the head this week, four days after he disappeared in a rural area in Colombia’s Santander region. 

Anaya González was co-founder of an organization that serves victims of antipersonnel landmines in eastern Colombia.  This week, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights reported there were 108 murders of human rights defenders in Colombia last year — including 15 women and two members of the LGBTQ community. 

That was a nearly 50% rise from 2018, and so far this year more than 50 social leaders have been murdered.