Please donate to support LRWC member Heather Neun’s participation in the VII International Caravana of Jurists to Colombia (20-28 August 2022) in support of the Colombian legal profession. The VII Caravana is taking place at the invitation of Colombian human rights lawyers.
The legal profession in Colombia continues to be at risk, a recent example described here: https://protect-lawyers.org/en/item/andrea-torres-bautista-3/. The endangered legal profession and, in particular, the use of the legal system to persecute Colombian lawyers has been the subject of numerous reports, including one issued in July 2021 by the International Observatory of Lawyers at Risk [https://protect-lawyers.org/en/item/country-file-colombia-the-use-of-justice-as-a-persecution-mechanism/].
Colombia also remains the deadliest country in the world for human rights defenders with 138 killed in 2020 and in the first half of 2022 at least 19 massacres and 22 social leaders killed. This situation, coupled with the criminalization of social protest, threats to judicial independence, and the general abandonment of rule of law principles, creates an untenable situation for defenders in Colombia.
The VII Caravana will focus on the need for judicial independence to combat impunity and guarantee access to remedies for victims and survivors of grave human rights violations, and measures in place that enable lawyers to carry out their work in safety. The Caravana will seek to improve the protection of human rights defenders and lawyers, whose participation is crucial to support the transitional justice process in Colombia and to achieve a stable and lasting peace.
Please donate to support LRWC’s participation in the VII Colombia Caravana. You will receive a charitable tax receipt for your donation.
