Latin America Dubbed the 'Deadliest Region for Human Rights Advocates'

Latin America is now being called the most dangerous place for rights activists, particularly to those who push for fairness and equality in the rights among LGBT and indigenous people.

On Wednesday, a campaign group called Front Line Defenders cited by Reuters revealed how the first 11 months of 2015 saw the death of more than 156 rights advocates, almost 15 percent higher from the numbers posted in 2014, which is only pegged at 136 killings for the same duration.

"Defending human rights in Latin America remained extremely dangerous and the criminalization of the defense of human rights and peaceful protest movements persisted. The most worrying issue remained extreme violence," the Dublin-based group reported.

While these numbers cover all of Latin America, the stats point toward a particular country in the region that fared even worse: Colombia.

According to TeleSUR, the nation on the southern tip of Latin America accounted for 54 deaths out of the 88 recorded in the region.

Citing a report from the same group, TeleSUR revealed that most targeted activists are those who fought for land, environment and human rights.

The outlet further explained the frightening truth cited by Front Line Executive Director Mary Lawlor that those who fight for other people's rights have become at risk, and that support for them has become alarmingly weak.

Mary Lawlor, Front Line's Executive Director, spoke about this pressing issue and highlighted the fact that "the environment for human rights defenders (HRDs) around the world has become increasingly restrictive and added that international reaction on this issue is weak."

Front Line also reported how several countries even used security and counter-terrorism laws against advocates as a means to prevent them from fighting for what they believed was fair and just.

"The excuse of the 'fight against terrorism' since 9/11 has been recognized as one of the key drivers for closing civil society space worldwide," the report read.

Meanwhile, the Front Line report also revealed that the Philippines hold the starkest figures of deaths of HRDs, with a total of 31 targeted killings.

Also, a significant number of countries in Asia have provided a hostile work place for HRDs with all the intimidation, surveillance, arbitrary detention, threats and harassment, and torture they are subjected to.

Overall, the campaign showed which countries have the most number of rights advocate deaths all over the world, including Honduras, Bangladesh, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, El Salvador, Egypt, Guatemala, Indonesia, India, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Nicaragua, Syria, Turkey, Thailand, and Yemen.