1. Collective Protection for Communities and Rights Defenders at Risk: Lessons from Grassroots Advocacy in Colombia
- Author:
- Mauricio Parra Bayona, Elizabeth Moreno Barco, and Jonathan Fox
- Publication Date:
- 06-2024
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Accountability Research Center (ARC), American University
- Abstract:
- Rights defenders around the world face unrelenting violent reprisals for their work protecting marginalized communities and their territories. Some governments respond by committing to protect these citizens at risk—mainly with individualized, police-style safeguards. Colombia’s government has Latin America’s largest protection agency by far and has gone beyond its many individual measures to also promise collective protection to communities at risk. In Colombia, the Community Council of the San Juan River region (ACADESAN), defends the rights of its 72 Afro-Colombian communities in areas affected by armed conflict. It has worked to hold the government accountable for delivering on its legal and policy commitments to protect communities at risk by providing comprehensive, collective measures. This Accountability Note describes ACADESAN’s breakthrough advocacy campaign for collective protection. It shares insights relevant for efforts to protect rights defenders and communities that go beyond conventional measures. It is based on the story told in Spanish by Mauricio Parra Bayona, ACADESAN human rights advisor, in his Accountability Working Paper, and the prefaces to that paper by former ACADESAN representative Elizabeth Moreno Barco and Jonathan Fox of ARC. Parra reflects on how collective protection must further be adjusted to better serve other at-risk communities and organizations in Colombia.
- Topic:
- Accountability, Land Rights, Advocacy, and Protection
- Political Geography:
- Colombia and South America