“We demand that the Attorney General’s Office diligently investigate these new events against the victims and their representatives,” CAJAR director said.
On Monday, unknown individuals threatened Yessika Hoyos, the director of Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers (CAJAR), one of Colombia’s most recognized human rights organizations.
“Yesterday I received a text message where they threatened me again,” Hoyos said through a video posted on social networks.
In the message, she is accused of continuing to help guerrillas and “sticking her nose where she is not wanted.” The anonymous menaces warn Hoyos that she could end up dead like the people she defends.
#EnMedios?@Ccajar, una de las organizaciones de DD.HH y defensa de víctimas más reconocidas de Colombia, denunció tercera amenaza de muerte consecutiva contra su presidenta, @YessikaHoyos, y otros ataques y hostigamientos que siguen viviendo los y las abogadas de la… pic.twitter.com/2lnEt4fOCw
— ColectivoDeAbogad@s (@Ccajar) January 24, 2024
These threats refer to the Mondoñedo massacre that occurred in 1996, when members of the police murdered four students whom they accused of being guerrillas. At that time, CAJAR assumed the legal representation of the victims of this case of State terrorism.
“This is the third consecutive threat I have received. It is related to other attacks and harassment that CAJAR lawyers continue to experience,” she pointed out.
In 2021 and 2022, Yessika Hoyos and Alfonso Mora, father of one of the victims of the Mondoñedo massacre, also received similar threats.
“We demand that the Attorney General’s Office diligently investigate these new events against the victims of the massacre and their representatives, as well as over 100 attacks against members of CAJAR that remain unpunished,” Hoyos said.
The CAJAR director asked the Colombian State to urgently adopt “a comprehensive public policy that provides guarantees for social leaders and human rights defenders.”
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