Jorge Eliecer Molano
We hope that the British government reassesses its cooperation with Colombia. Cooperation should be conditional on the achievement of real guarantees for human rights defenders and respect for the rights of the victims so that the state of Colombia advances towards a real rule of law.
Jorge Eliecer Molano Rodríguez is a legal advisor for human rights organisations such as the Sembrar Organisation, NOMADESC, la Corporación Jurídica Utopía (Legal Utopia Organisation) and Fedeagromisbol. He provides legal representation to victims of human rights violations.
HRDs in Colombia work in a violent and unsafe environment. They are subjected to threats, intimidation, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, physical assaults, torture, killings, illegal searches of their homes and offices and stigmatisation as a result of their activities in defence of human rights. The perpetrators of these abuses are frequently paramilitary groups, many of whom have links to the government or security services, or armed opposition groups. The continued frequent and severe threats and attacks against HRDs around the country contradict government claims of paramilitary demobilisation.
