It is water that receives us in the Bajo Atrato region for our first trip to the area after five months. We had just spent three days in Dabeiba and that was just the beginning of our journey. Continue reading Waters of Hope Amid War
Back in the field, in the footprints of memory
After a five month quarantine, PBI Colombia returned to the field accompanying the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission. Continue reading Back in the field, in the footprints of memory
“What motivates me to be a defender is rebellion,” Daniel Prado Albarracín
Time and time again Daniel Prado’s boots sink into the sticky mud that reaches his knees as he travels the paths of Montes de Maria, until he reaches the exhumation site. Continue reading “What motivates me to be a defender is rebellion,” Daniel Prado Albarracín
“We are right when we make denouncements,” Fabian Laverde
Fabian Laverde loves the countryside and, like any good farmer, he can walk for hours up and down hills to get to the community that needs his help. He understands all too well what the peasantry’s historic exclusion signifies and the “guerrilla” stigma that falls on those who live in distant regions abandoned by the State, because he has lived this story. “I am a classic young person… who is now over 40,1” he mentions in passing with a mischievous smile. His story as a human rights defender began in 1993 when he was still in high school, during a strike led by peasants who were drowning under predatory loans. They took to the streets to achieve better conditions and prices for their coffee. Continue reading “We are right when we make denouncements,” Fabian Laverde
Claudia Julieta Duque’s relentless search for justice
Claudia Julieta Duque is a journalist and human rights defender, accompanied by PBI since 2003. Over the years, we have accompanied Claudia Julieta as she has brought her search for justice before different entities and we have monitored her security situation, which is more alarming each day. Due to her investigations and publications on very delicate issues, in particular those related to the participation of the now-dismantled Department of Administrative Security (DAS) in the 1999 murder of political humorist Jaime Garzón. Since 2001, Claudia Julieta has been victim to a plan developed by the DAS, comprised of threats, harassment, persecution, and illegal interception.1 That is when Claudia began her long journey to find justice, which continues today. Continue reading Claudia Julieta Duque’s relentless search for justice