I / A Court HR orders Colombian state to immediately protect life and integrity of journalist Jineth Bedoya

On March 24, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued an order adopting provisional measures in the case of Bedoya Lima and another v. Colombia, and ordered the Colombian state to immediately implement all necessary measures to protect the life and personal integrity of the alleged victims Jineth Bedoya Lima and Luz Nelly Lima.

“Require the State to allow beneficiaries to participate in the planning and implementation of these protection measures and, in general, to keep them informed of the progress of their execution”, reported the IACHR.

Likewise, that updated information be submitted to the Inter-American Court on the protective measures adopted in favor of the persons mentioned in operative paragraph 1, no later than April 9, 2021.

The international court requested the representatives of the alleged victims to present their observations within ten days of the notification of the aforementioned report of the Status requested in operative paragraph 3, as well as from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to present its observations on the said report within ten days of receipt of the representatives’ observations.

Jineth Bedoya rejected pardon offered by national government: “It was like a slap in the face”

During the hearing in which the The Inter-American Court of Human Rights investigated the case of Jineth Bedoya, for the rape she suffered by the paramilitaries in 2000, the Colombian state admitted flaws in the process of reparation of the journalist and apologized to her and her mother for neglect throughout the period. from the start of the process.

Lawyer Camilo Gómez, who heads the national defense team, intervened at the hearing and accepted the responsibility of the state to conduct a full criminal investigation., as well as to express his institutional forgiveness to Jineth Bedoya and his mother Luz Nelly Lima.

“Colombia is a State which presents itself with humility before the Court and puts its face in front of the victim to recognize the errors which correspond to the facts presented in the case. For this reason, on behalf of the Colombian State, I recognize international responsibility for the failures of the justice system that failed to conduct a dignified criminal investigation for the victim, by collecting 12 complaints, and I apologize to Jineth Bedoya for these facts and the damage they caused, ”Gómez told the hearing.

However, Jineth Bedoya rejected the Colombian state’s statements and ensured that it is unfortunate that in addition to the revictimization she suffered, they did not accept responsibility for the obligation to prevent crimes. sexual intercourse she suffered.

“This partial forgiveness offered today by the Colombian state is another slap in the face. Acknowledge, only that 12 times they made me report my violation, that there is indeed no investigation into the threats, and that the reparations that I have presented are not allowed, it is like those cases that I report every day where the husband beats the wife and the next day he said forgive me, I was in a bad temper, ”Bedoya said.

The journalist confirmed that she would not accept any kind of amicable solution with the government, because after Camilo Gómez, director of the National Legal Defense Agency (Andje), withdrew from the hearing there a few days, the official sent a letter to the journalist in which he justified his position. In the document, the man assured that rejects the reported acts of violence and hopes to reach an amicable settlement.

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