Colombia: Mass Graves and human rights abuses
Wednesday 17th March, 18:30
5th Floor, NUJ, Headland House, 308 Gray’s
Inn Road, London WC1X 8DP
An opportunity to hear first hand from two top Colombian human
rights defenders working on the case of ‘La Macarena’ – a village
in southern Colombia where there are presumed to be up to 2,000
bodies buried in unidentified graves.
Chair: Jeremy Dear, NUJ general secretary
and chair of Justice for Colombia; Speakers include Joanna Stevens,
Thompsons Solicitors, recently visited ‘La Macarena’ in December
2009 as part of a Justice for Colombia delegation of trade
unionists, MPs and lawyers; Edinson Cuellar is the vice-president
of a human rights lawyers’ association who represents trade unions,
political prisoners and peasant farmers. Mr Cuellar’s clients
include the relatives of victims of extrajudicial executions and
‘forced disappearances’. Carolina Hoyos is the vice-president of
the ‘Bajo Ariari Human Rights Commission’, a human rights
organisation working with residents of Meta and Guaviare, two
regions in southern Colombia where civilians face constant human
rights abuses. Both Mr Cuellar and Ms Hoyos are currently working
on a case in the village of ‘La Macarena’, where human rights
groups estimate there are approximately 2000 bodies buried in
unidentified graves. It is believed that many are civilians
murdered by the Colombian army. Both face extreme danger as a
result of their work.
More details from: www.justiceforcolombia.org
