She was drugged, kidnapped and raped, and now she’s taking the Colombian state to the dock

She was drugged, kidnapped, severely beaten and raped. The ordeal of the Colombian journalist, Jineth Bedoya Lima finally he arrived to be heard before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

His torment was unleashed on May 25, 2000. And for more than a decade, the crime remained totally unpunished.

Now at the IACHR, for three days of hearings, the State of Colombia will give explanations on its passivity in the case, and the Court could determine an international condemnation against this country.

Horror and violence

On May 25, 2000, Jineth, 26, faced his workday like any other day. He had an ongoing interview with a possible source, in the case he was investigating arms trafficking, disappearances and homicides which involved officials and members of the paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC).

Allí mismo, en las puertas de la Cárcel Modelo de Bogotá, donde había sido citada para hablar con su supuesta fuente, tres hombres la interceptaron, the obligaron to undergo a vehículo, the drogaron, the torturaron y luego the violaron por más de 16 Hours. Then they let her lie on a road that leaves the city of Bogotá, towards the eastern plains, in an uninhabited area near Villavicencio.

These three criminals would later be recognized as members of the AUC.

Jineth Bedoya posted on his Twitter account: “Taking my case to an international tribunal is not just about justifying what happened to me as a woman and as a journalist. It is also opening the door of hope to thousands of women and girls who, like me, have had to face violence in the midst of the Colombian armed conflict ”.

What happened still shakes Jineth and when she refers to the bully of the kidnapper group, she remembers that he put his gun to her temple, loaded it and after hitting her, she forced her to open her eyes as wide as she could. “It took me a long time to stop feeling dirty and many years to allow a man to touch me again. Rape is not a punch or a blow, it is a crime that it destroys our livesJineth remembers.

Progress of the case

Jineth Bedoya was encouraged to speak publicly about what happened to her in 2009. Since then, she has led the campaign. “It is not time to be silent”, which encourages women to report sexual assault and gender-based violence.

She herself explained her prolonged silence about the rape she suffered: “After the kidnapping, I remained silent because I thought that as a journalist I could not identify myself as a victim. Besides, I was so ashamed that it was impossible for me to talk about it with my mother. And he was aware that, even though he denounced, nothing was going to happen and I was going to exhaust myself in this process ”.

Finally, on Monday, the process against the Colombian state began and the IACHR organized public hearings. In total, four cases under consideration by the Court will be analyzed, as well as two judgments and one advisory opinion. Among these four cases, there is that of the journalist.

The slow advance of justice

Although Jineth Bedoya immediately reported her abduction and rape to the authorities, for 11 years Colombian justice has not progressed in the case. For this reason, in May 2011, Jineth took his case to the IACHR, forcing the attorney general’s office to resume investigations. From there, three people were linked to the crime: the paramilitaries Alejandro Cardenas Orozco, Baker ” Mario jaimes mejia and “eggepisca” Jesus Emiro Pereira.

The then prosecutor handling the case, Viviane Morales, determined that there was a state debt owed to Jineth Bedoya. The file has been classified as crime against humanity and, therefore, imprescriptible.

But although the case was labeled that way, these three people’s connection to the crime was the only breakthrough on the case in 20 years. According to the investigation, they were involved about 25 people and the responsibility was even emphasized on the part of State agents.

Among the slow progress, the court concluded that everything that had happened could have been avoided: “It was argued that the Colombian state was aware of the situation of real and imminent risk in which the journalist was and did not act understood as reasonable to protect it ”. This was stated by the court in a statement.

The importance of the case

The relevance of what happened with Jineth Bedoya, besides delivering justice and trying to find the culprits of his kidnapping and rape, both physically and also the intellectual perpetrators, is that this will be the first time that the IACHR will rule on violence. against women journalists, but also the first time that an international tribunal will speak out on sexual violence in Colombia.

In April 2020, the Chapultepec index, a tool for measuring press freedom and expression, indicated that Colombia had only nearly 58 press freedom points and was part of a panorama of restriction partial.

And Viviana Krsticevic, director of the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), which represents Bedoya, also spoke in this regard: “The use of sexual violence against women journalists is one of the tools that makes silence their voice in the press. from Colombia and around the world. The Jineth case intersects with the silencing of women journalists through the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war ”.

According to the document presented by the IACHR, “Jineth Bedoya was the victim of constant threats and attacks against his life and his personal integrity linked to the exercise of journalism before her kidnapping on May 25, 2000 (…), she never received state protection and threats continued ”.

In turn, it is added in the document that the state is not only guilty of failing to guarantee protection, but also of the impunity which led to an investigation by the prosecution for 11 years which identified only three culprits – the material perpetrators of the crimes. facts – but there was no identification of the determinants of what happened.

In 2018, the IACHR indicated that the Colombian state is responsible for the violation of the right to life, liberty, integrity, freedom of expression, equality before the law, rights to judicial guarantees and protection.

There is latent a possible international condemnation against Colombia determined by the Court, depending on what happens with the public hearings.

Redacción Clarín, with information from the El Tiempo and Clarín archives.

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