Over 100 rights, labour activists die in Colombia in 2017, says UN

BOGOTA, Dec 21 (AFP): More than 100 activists for human and labor rights were killed in Colombia this year, after a landmark peace deal between the government and FARC rebels, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

The deaths occurred in rural zones where the FARC was active, and where government authority was not present, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement.

In total, up to December 20, a total 105 killings had been registered, it said. Another 11 were being verified.

Colombia's government, which had a different tally of such deaths, denied there was a systematic pattern to the murders.

Under the November 2016 peace deal, the FARC-the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-went on to disarm and to transform itself into a political party using the same initials.

President Juan Manuel Santos has vowed to protect the demobilized fighters and rights activists.

His defense minister, Luis Carlos Villegas, said on Sunday that "most" of the murders were over turf disputes and "struggles over illicit income."