José Humberto Torres Diaz
José Humberto Torres Diaz is a leading human rights defender and lawyer working for human rights in Barranquilla, a city in northern Colombia, who has defended the rights of others for nearly 30 years. Working with the Political Prisoners Solidarity Committee (Fundacion Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos (FCSPP)), he represents many human rights defenders who are subject to specious criminal investigations. He has received death threats and harassment as a result of his work.
Despite recent peace talks, Colombia remains one of the countries with the highest rates of killing of HRDs in the world. The UN reported that 69 HRDS were killed between January and August 2015 - the number was 35 for the same period in 2014. HRDs are subjected to threats, intimidation, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, physical assaults, torture, killings, illegal searches of their homes and offices and stigmatisation as a result of their activities in defence of human rights. The perpetrators of these abuses are frequently paramilitary groups, many of whom have links to the government or security services, or armed opposition groups.
