Father Javier Giraldo is a great human rights defender who worked with the then Inter-congregation Commission for Justice and Peace (CIJP), also supporting victim’s organizations such as the Association of Relatives of Detained-Disappeared (ASFADDES). In January 1988, he created the first databank to compile human rights violations, known as the “Night and Fog” Magazine, coordinated by the Center for Popular Research and Education (CINEP)[1].

Throughout his career, Father Javier Giraldo, has accompanied victims of the armed conflict and communities in resistance, such as the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. He learned about PBI in Central America in the 1980s and thought it could be an adequate protection model for human rights defenders in Colombia. Father Javier Giraldo was the person who made the formal request for PBI to open a project in Colombia: “The idea with the presence of Peace Brigades was always to try a different model of protection for people at risk, different to the armed model of armed bodyguards.”

PBI Colombia

Footnote

[1] From January 1988 until June 1996 the name of the publication was  El Boletín de Justicia y Paz, and from July 1996, it has been published every trimester under the name  revista Noche y Niebla

** this videa has been produced by the supports of the International Cooperation Agency of Extremadura for the Development (AEXCID).