Press Releases

MADRE Denounces Attacks on Colombian Abortion Rights Activists

Posted on: Thursday, May 10, 2012

Keywords: Colombia, Women Human Rights Defenders, Reproductive Rights, Latin America and Caribbean

On the evening of May 7, an unknown person shot at the window of the Women’s Link Worldwide office in Bogota, Colombia, while the Programs Director Monica Roa and two of her colleagues were working. No one was injured. The attack occurred on the eve of the six year anniversary of the decriminalization of abortion in Colombia.

MADRE condemns this attack as a violent attempt to terrorize these activists into silence. Women’s Link Worldwide has been a powerful voice for women’s reproductive rights, and this attack is part of a wider pattern of harassment and intimidation. Recently, a computer was stolen from their offices. Monica Roa has learned that one of the country’s highest judicial officials has filed a criminal complaint against her, one that has not been made public.

Our friends at Women’s Link Worldwide are brave human rights defenders, and MADRE is proud to work with them to advance international advocacy for women’s human rights, in Colombia and beyond. We denounce these attacks on them, and we call on the Colombian government to protect the lives of its citizens, to investigate these criminal acts and to protect reproductive rights.

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