Lawyers under Death Threat in Colombia – Documentation of the protests and meetings all over Europe
Lawyers all over Europe and in other countries organized protest on 24th January 2014 outside Colombian embassies and consulates, in Ankara, Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Bern, Brussels, Düsseldorf, The Hague, Istanbul, Izmir, London, Madrid, Milan, Montpellier, Paris, Rome, and Vienna.
This year the Day of the endangered Lawyer is focused on lawyers in Colombia who were murdered and who received death threats because they defend the rights of the poorest, and who work on cases of human rights violations in rural areas where small-scale producers are attempting to return to lands illegally expropriated from them.
On European level it was organized by
- The European Democratic Lawyers AED-EDL
- The European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights ELDH
- European Bar Human Rights Institute IDHAE
- The Day of the Endangered Lawyers Foundation, Netherlands
With support of
- Colombia Caravana UK Lawyers Group
- Lawyers for Lawyers, Netherlands
In London and The Hague two lawyers from Colombia, Miguel Puerto and Duran Rommel, participated at the activities and presented reports.
Jairo Céspedes, President of the Executive Commission of Colombian Lawyers (Comité Ejecutivo de la Abogacía Colombiana) expressed his gratitude for our solidarity with our colleagues in Colombia. He strongly encouraged us to keep in touch for the next future and visit their website, in order to be updated with cases of threatened and murdered lawyers: http://www.casadelabogado.org