Press Release

UK lawyers demand action on human rights from Colombian authorities

6 May 2009

Daily threats to the lives of Colombian human rights lawyers have prompted the publication of a report, today, by the Law Society of England and Wales.

More than 400 Colombian lawyers have been murdered since 1991. No-one has been prosecuted for these killings.

The report from an international delegation – the Caravana Internacional de Juristas - documents the threats, assaults, disappearances and killings of human rights advocates and the failure of the Colombian authorities to investigate.

Last year 42 UK lawyers participated in a fact finding mission to Colombia to investigate the situation of human rights lawyers in the country. The multinational Caravana comprised approximately 70 lawyers to provide a human shield to lawyers at risk and to make representations to the authorities and fact finding on what can be done to support and protect Colombian human rights in the future.

The delegation met with human rights lawyers and victims' groups as well as judges, police and prosecutors, UK embassy staff, senior central and local government ministers, academics, and commercial lawyers.

Sara Chandler, a Law Society Council member, commented ‘The courage of the Colombian lawyers has left a lasting impact on us all. We heard shocking and detailed eye witness accounts of harassment and attacks. During our visit, a lawyer was murdered in one of the regions we were investigating’.

Chandler says: “Lawyers we met during the visit continue to suffer harassment and death threats. The offices of the host organisation ACADEUM have been broken into and documents seized, while two lawyers have gone into exile after receiving death threats in February and March this year”

Trade unionists have also been the targets of this campaign of terror: since 1986, 2,700 trade unionists have been murdered with teachers, health service employees and workers in the petroleum and palm oil industries particularly at risk.
The lawyers' report focuses on:

• The dangers faced by lawyers and other human rights defenders;
• Impunity - the failure of the state to take action against the perpetrators of murder, kidnapping and threats;
• The lack of impartial law enforcement and of access to justice;
• The importance of international pressure and support for the establishment of human rights in Colombia.

The international delegation has established an emergency email network to respond to threats to their Colombian colleagues and will continue to make visits to Colombia and representations to the Colombian authorities. They call on UK and EU political leaders to exert pressure on President Uribe's government to adhere to international norms on human rights and the rule of law.