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In a virtual public hearing that you can follow through the website of EL TIEMPO, the Colombian State will answer before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (I / A Court HR) for the kidnapping, torture and sexual violence of which the journalist Jineth Bedoya was a victim on May 25, 2000, on the occasion of his investigative work on violence in the country’s prisons.
The Court heard Bedoya, who leads the No es Hora de Callar campaign –against sexual violence against women–, and will listen to another series of witnesses and experts on both sides to expand knowledge of the situation and its that Colombia has done, or not, in the face of prevention, investigation, prosecution and reparation.
(For context, we suggest you read: Colombia, before the Inter-American Court for attack against Jineth Bedoya)
The procedure began at 9:15 am Colombian time, with a reading that Antonia Urrejola, rapporteur for Colombia of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), made on the case. In 2018, the IACHR presented a report on the merits in which it concluded that Colombia is responsible for the violence against Bedoya.
Urrejola recalled that when Bedoya was kidnapped and tortured and the perpetrators made it clear that they were doing so because of the reports that she had been publishing regarding violence in prisons.
In its report on the merits, the Commission concluded that Colombia is responsible for what happened to the journalist for not having taken action on the threats that Bedoya experienced prior to her abduction, and for not having diligently investigated the facts.
Urrejola pointed out that this case “was not seriously investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office“and that only some actors were convicted, of the Auc, despite the fact that more than 20 years have passed.
(We invite you to read: Jineth Bedoya receives the Golden Pen of Freedom)
After Urrejola’s intervention, Viviana Krsticevic, director of Cejil, began with an interrogation of Bedoya, in which she first asked her what she was doing in her journalistic work at the time of the events.
Bedoya replied that he was part of the judicial team of the newspaper El Espectador, and that he had been covering the armed conflict and the situation in the La Modelo prison in Bogotá, where there was arms trafficking, dismemberment and disappearance of people, among others. All armed groups converged in that prison, said Bedoya, adding that these situations happened in prison with the support of some members of the state forces.
Likewise, she recalled that in 1999 she and her mother were victims of an attack, and despite the fact that in August of that year she requested protection from the State, through a letter, no scheme was assigned to her and the response to her letter was that “I was not at risk and could not receive a security scheme.”
She recalled that on May 25, 2000, she went to jail to continue investigating the massacre of 32 prisoners that had occurred days before. After receiving threats and going to the police, this force, said Bedoya, told him that the best way to stop the threats was to meet with one of the paramilitary leaders in jail and they set him up on May 25.
(For context, surely it is of your interest to read: Court leaves final sentences against attackers of Jineth Bedoya)
She recalled that that day she arrived at the jail and while her boss went to look for the photographer, she was approached by a man and a woman with a weapon, they took her to a nearby warehouse and beat her. Then they took her out of Bogotá in a car, she was the victim of a massive rape and they left her lying in a place.
He added that several times during that tour, people “told me that journalists were getting in the wrong places, that the real plague was not them but the journalists and that this was an example to the press. ”
In addition, she said that in the investigation of the Prosecutor’s Office, which did not advance much, she had to narrate her violation 12 times, and that she herself had to investigate her case in which she discovered that there were people from the police involved and that whoever ordered her kidnapping and torture was a high-ranking police officer.
They told me that journalists were getting in the wrong places, that the real plague was not them but the journalists and that this was a lesson to the press
As reparation, the journalist clarified that nothing can repair something that is broken, but that a repair would be to close the La Modelo prison and turn this into a space of memory, not only for her but for all the victims of disappearances, dismemberment, and many human rights violations that occurred there.
The threats against her have continued, she told the Court that she continues to receive messages and threats that they will do that again.
The representation of the State, through the National Agency for Legal Defense of the State (Andje), did not question Bedoya.
At one point the director of the Police spoke with the director of where I currently work and told him that it was best for me to go to the country because they could not guarantee my life
Responding to questions from one of the judges of the Inter-American Court, Bedoya commented that after her kidnapping she has not only received threats, but at one point she was kidnapped by the Farc, people tried to force entry into her apartment, then she realized that his security scheme was part of a network of police kidnappers.
In addition, Bedoya said that her sources, who gave her information about who had ordered her kidnapping, were attacked. To a person you met They killed him an hour after giving her the information about the officer who ordered her attack; Another source, who was in prison, was transferred to a mental hospital and drugged until he became insane.
“At one point the director of the Police spoke with the director of where I currently work EL TIEMPO and told him that it was best for me to go to the country because they could not guarantee my life,” she said, adding that that was very hard to think that if the police couldn’t protect her, then who.
She also told the Court that she considers that the person who ordered your attack has been protected, as it is part of circles of influence; and added that despite multiple testimonies and evidence, and even confessions that in Justice and Peace have made paramilitaries about the determinants of their attack, they have never been called to declare the indicated intellectual authors of his crime.
He also spoke of how difficult it has been to continue doing journalism under constant threats, under impunity.
On the other hand, he commented that it seems to him that as a State there is a long way to go to face the situation of armed conflict that persists in the country, a conflict in which women and girls continue to be sexually violated. He also commented that it is almost incredible that almost 4 years after its creation, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), which emerged after the peace agreement with the FARC, has not opened a case to investigate sexual violence in the context of the conflict. .
Responding to another judges, Bedoya commented that due to his investigations and journalistic investigations, he knows that some of the people from the Public Force who participated in his attack are still active in the Police.
In addition, he said that the police general who was identified as the determiner of his attack is not active in the institution but he is one of the people who manages private security offices nationwide in Colombia.
The journalist also spoke about how La Modelo prison continues to be a place where rights are violated, and how in 2000 she went to consult her sources and there were paramilitaries with weapons such as rifles; He also said that there were constant confrontations with grenades, rifles, side and side shots in this Bogotá prison, where people from different armed groups converged.
And about the present time, Bedoya commented that La Modelo continues to coordinate crime in Bogotá, since there are people imprisoned for drug trafficking and some former paramilitaries.
After this public hearing, all that remains is to wait for the judgment of the Inter-American Court, which may take several months and even years.
JUSTICE
On twitter: @JusticiaET
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