Human rights defender Ms Judith Maldonado Mojica has been threatened during a violent attack in which her bag and materials related to her work were stolen.

Further Information

Judith Maldonado Mojica is Director of the Luis Carlos Perez Lawyers Collective (La Corporación Colectivo de Abogados Luis Carlos Perez – CCALCP), a human rights organisation in Bucaramanga which provides support, including legal assistance, education and accompaniment, to farmers, displaced populations and trade unionists. Many of these groups are involved in struggles against various economic interests, including mining corporations, to retain their agricultural lands. In particular, CCALCP is currently running a project with the indigenous people of Motilón Bari.

On 4 August 2010 at approximately 4.40pm, Judith Maldonado Mojica was attacked outside CCALCP's offices in Bucaramanga as she was about to get out of her car. She was assaulted by two armed men who had appeared at the scene on a motorbike. They beat her, shouted insults at her, and threatened that they would kill her. They eventually left, taking with them her handbag which contained documents and communication devices belonging to CCALCP.

During a journey earlier on the same day, at approximately 2.00pm, Judith Maldonado Mojica and Ms Julia Adriana Figueroa were travelling to the Consulate of Venezuela when they noticed that they were being watched by two men who were following them on motorbike in what they described as a “suspicious manner”.

Judith Maldonado Mojica has previously been subject to threats. On 12 March 2010, she received a voicemail message on her mobile phone in which an unknown voice stated that “We’re going to place a bomb… your people will be blamed for it… you got involved with the community and you will not enter there again… listen Judith, your organisation got involved and ruined the plans that the Black Eagles had against them.” The message was believed to have been issued by the Black Eagles (Águilas Negras) paramilitary group. CCALCP reported this incident to the regional criminal investigation office of the national police (SIJIN).

In March 2009, unknown persons broke into the house where Judith Maldonado Mojica was staying temporarily in Arauca, Arauca Department, and stole electronic devices including her computer, which contained eight years' worth of the organisation’s documents and materials. CCALCP has also learned that it has been subject to illegal wiretapping and communications interception by the Administrative Security Department (DAS), the Colombian intelligence service which reported directly to the President.

Front Line believes that the attack and threats against Judith Maldonado Mojia, and the surveillance of the staff of CCALCP, is directly related to their work on human rights in Colombia. Front Line is concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Judith Maldonado Mojica, Julia Adriana Figueroa, and the other staff members of CCALCP.