IAPL report
Maria Alejandra Garzón Mora is a human rights lawyer and member of the Asociación Red de Defensores y Defensoras, DH Colombia. DH Colombia aims to promote, disseminate, protect and defend human and peoples’ rights. It is an interdisciplinary group that provides comprehensive defence for victims of human rights violations, both individually and collectively.
?? #Colombia: Human rights lawyer María Alejandra Garzón Mora has been subjected to serious threats, cyber-attacks, surveillance and verbal attacks.
??https://t.co/OKIzJRHXJQ@dhColombia @PBIColombia @FiscaliaCol @UNPColombia @UIA_JEP
— ProtectLawyers (OIAD) (@ProtectLawyers) June 29, 2022
The Observatory has received information about numerous threats to the lawyer María Alejandra Garzón Mora from September 2020 to date, with a higher frequency in 2021. The lawyer is the victim of various attacks: cyber-attacks, constant surveillance, as well as verbal attacks. The threats received are directly aimed at her work as a legal representative of the victims of the protests that took place in Colombia as part of the national strike in April 2021.
The lawyer is subject to constant monitoring and surveillance, both by police officers and by strangers near her home and office. In addition, María Alejandra is subject to cyber-attacks, telecommunications breakdowns and interception of calls with clients, colleagues and family members. The incidents occur most often in the context of hearings or crucial dates in cases in which she represents interests as a lawyer. These attacks constitute a serious breach of professional secrecy and impede the free and independent exercise of the profession.
Due to her high level of risk and insecurity, Alejandra Garzón began to benefit from the protection regime granted by the Investigation and Indictment Unit (hereinafter, UIA), an entity belonging to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), in March 2021. Faced with the UIA’s decision to reduce the protection measures in February 2022, the lawyer filed a guardianship application with the JEP. The guardianship ruling SRT-ST-088/2022 of 16 May recognised the extraordinary risk suffered by the lawyer and invited the UIA to reassess the lawyer’s status within two months. Until the new risk assessment is carried out, the protective measures initially adopted will be maintained.
