A couple of weeks ago I was all set to attend my second criminal hearing in Colombia, though this time accompanying the defense lawyer, not a lawyer on the prosecution side (representing the victims is a role permitted in the Colombian justice system), as I did in 2010 in the San Jose de Apartado massacre [...]

“Start preparing for your father’s funeral, son, because we’re going to kill him.” Last July, PBI Colombia’s Communications Coordinator travelled to Barrancabermeja to interview David Ravelo, secretary general of the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights in the Magdalena Medio (CREDHOS) and a key leader of the social justice movement in that city. [...]

Last week David Ravelo Crespo, secretary general for the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) in Barrancabermeja, was detained by Colombian authorities at CREDHOS’s office. From there he was taken to the Public Prosecutor’s office in Bogotá where he was charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and agravated homicide. David is [...]