PRESS RELEASE

N° 4/07
 

IACHR EXPRESSES ITS CONDEMNATION OF THE MURDER OF VICTIM SEEKING REPARATION
UNDER THE JUSTICE AND PEACE LAW IN COLOMBIA
 

 

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expresses its repudiation of the murder of Mrs. Yolanda Izquierdo, who had appeared as a victim of the armed conflict in Colombia at the open hearings in the case of the paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso, in accordance with the procedure established in the so-called “Law of Justice and Peace.”   Mrs. Izquierdo was shot to death on January 31, 2007, at the entrance to her home, in a district of the city of Montería.  

 

 The information available indicates that Mrs. Izquierdo was a leader of the complaints lodged by hundreds of small farmers against the seizure of their land by members of the AUC in the department of Córdoba and that, having received death threats since December 2006, she had repeatedly requested protection from the authorities, who ignored those requests.

 

In light of these facts, which highlight the grave risks associated with the whole process of seeking truth, justice, and reparation by applying the Justice and Peace Law, the IACHR calls upon the Colombian State to conduct a judicial investigation into this crime and urgently adopt the measures required to afford due protection to the victims of the conflict and their representatives in the exercise of their fundamental rights.  

Washington, D.C., February 2, 2007