Colombia withdraws from hearing before the Inter-American Court in the case of journalist Jineth Bedoya, victim of sexual violence | International

What was expected in Colombia as a historic day, the start of the virtual public hearing in the case of journalist Jineth Bedoya before the highest American court of human rights, led this Monday to an unprecedented action by the Colombian state. The Andean country chose to challenge the judges of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Inter-American Court of Human Rights) and withdrew from the trial in which its responsibility for the threats, assaults and sexual violence suffered by Bedoya, as part of its international obligations towards women journalists.

Jineth Bedoya’s quest for justice is now 20 years old. The journalist, now deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper Time, She was kidnapped, tortured and raped by paramilitaries on May 25, 2000, while conducting an investigation at La Modelo prison in Bogotá. Since then he has become one of the leading voices against sexual violence in Latin America and has been leading the campaign for a decade. It’s not time to shut up, with the aim that the victims raise their voices and denounce the attacks.

The start of the three-day hearing had been greeted with hope in Colombia. “For the first time, an international court, nothing less than a body of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), hears and will surely rule on violence against women journalists in our country and in the hemisphere and on sexual violence in Colombia, ”said the editorial by Time this Monday. “Now is not the time to be silent or to tolerate. It is time to do justice fully, ”he stressed. In the substantive report it sent to the Court in 2018, the IACHR concluded that the Colombian state is responsible for multiple violations of Jineth Bedoya’s rights. Just two years ago, two paramilitaries were sentenced to 40 years in prison as material perpetrators after having to become an investigator into his own crime. So far, none of the masterminds of the crime have been prosecuted.

The communicator has continued to receive constant threats to this day. “My life was destroyed, they killed me on the morning of May 25,” he told the audience in a broken voice, stressing that journalism was the oxygen that allowed him to go from the front. “I believed the word was the best way to transform the pain. But unfortunately my life is over, ”he said. “How can you get back something that’s shattered into a thousand pieces?” Because that’s what sexual violence does, ”he said at another point.

Bedoya reported in her statement that it was the police who suggested that she question the paramilitary leaders in prison, the trap that led to her kidnapping, as well as the re-victimization she had to face due to the fact that the authorities called her 12 times to testify about the sexual assault. He also said the biggest redress he could receive is to shut down La Modelo, where all kinds of rights violations have systematically occurred.

After several hours of hearing, the team of the National Legal Defense Agency representing Colombia, led by Camilo Gómez, announced its intention to present a brief to challenge five of the six judges as soon as possible, arguing that his questions were damaging. . “What is at stake here is the lack of guarantees and objectivity in this process (…) It is not a question of prejudging a State which presents itself with humility in front of the court and which puts its face before the victim, but expects from its judges the impartiality and objectivity which are the very essence of justice, ”said Gómez in his unexpected statement announcing their retirement. “We hope that the illustrious State of Colombia will present its briefs and formulate its demands, which will be resolved in due course, and in the meantime this hearing cannot be interrupted and we will continue,” said Elizabeth Odio Benitez, President of the Search.

“This is unprecedented and irresponsible behavior,” responded José Miguel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch for the Americas, alluding to Colombia’s decision to challenge almost all the judges because the questions bothered the victim. “Iván Duque’s government should be ashamed of what it did in the Inter-American Court in the case of Jineth Bedoya,” he wrote on his social media.

“The organizations representing the journalist consider that the attitude of the state demonstrates neglect towards victims of sexual violence in the armed conflict and refuses decent spaces to access justice,” said the Foundation for freedom of the press in a press release (FLIP), which accompanies the Case. The state’s withdrawal is an unprecedented act that raises concerns about their engagement in the trial, as well as their submission to the court ruling, the organization said. “In addition, this action is part of a strategy that aims to delegitimize the Inter-American Court and represents a new obstacle in the process, which continues to punish Jineth Bedoya for having made his voice heard, thus prompting a new attempt to do so. to hush up. », Concluded the FLIP.

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