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 [...]

My first accompaniment as a PBI volunteer, with the Fundación Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos (Foundation Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners) in February of this year to the maximum security prison in Valledupar, remains the most shocking and powerful experience I´ve had in Colombia. I´ll do my best to describe the experience [...]

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 [...]