In May of 2000, Jineth Bedoya Lima was abducted and sexually assaulted while investigating a story in Colombia. Years later, justice has only just begun to be served.
Jineth Bedoya Lima is an award-winning investigative journalist and an advocate for the rights of women victims of violence in Colombia. Recognized for her reporting on the activities of Colombian paramilitaries, she was following up on a lead about alleged arms sales between paramilitaries and Colombian state officials at a maximum-security prison on 25 May 2000. Jineth was abducted from the prison, tortured, and sexually assaulted as a “message to the press”.
Fifteen years later, the first two perpetrators have only just been convicted for these acts, and Jineth’s case has become synonymous with the impunity that plagues Colombia’s justice system. Although several perpetrators have been identified and apprehended, obtaining convictions has been a glacial process, and the judiciary has mishandled the case on several occasions.
In the absence of justice, the Foundation for Press Freedom – FLIP, a member of IFEX, presented a request to the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in 2011. The case has been advancing through the IACHR’s procedures since then and in January 2019 the IACHR approved its Merits Report on the case.
Far from being intimidated from speaking out, Jineth herself has become a fervent advocate for press freedom and women’s rights in Colombia, particularly through her “Now is not the time to be silent” campaign.
In a historic ruling published on 18 October 2021, the Inter-American Court declared the State of Colombia responsible for violating Bedoya’s rights to personal integrity, personal liberty, honor and dignity, freedom of thought and expression, and for failing their duty of care to Bedoya as a woman journalist. The Court ordered the Colombian State to provide a series of reparations including compensation, implementing effective policy and systemic measures to protect women journalists, and establishing an awareness-raising programme on the issue of gender-based violence as inspired by Bedoya’s campaign.
This is the first decision by an international human rights court that analyzes the use of sexual violence as a method of silencing a woman journalist, and sets a precedent in following international human rights standards to protect women journalists who have been victims of sexual violence. It also promoted the need for governments to develop standards of heightened due diligence around women journalists.]
If you enjoyed reading this piece, check out this short video about Jineth’s fight for justice, that we co-produced in 2020 with IFEX member FLIP (Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa), to mark Colombia’s Day of the Journalist.
Key Actors
What IFEX Members are doing
The Foundation for Press Freedom has been assisting with Jineth’s case in the national courts and regional human rights commission. They actively campaign for better protections for journalists in Colombia and have committed to reducing the level of impunity country-wide.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has been advocating for justice for Jineth since the first days after her attack. Recently, a CPJ-FLIP delegation met with President Santos to demand an end to impunity and progress in several cases of attacks on journalists in Colombia, including that of Jineth Bedoya Lima.
MORE RESOURCES & INFORMATION
AMERICAS 19 December 2016
Over the past few decades, freedom of expression has been one of the many victims of Colombia’s civil war. Our No Impunity profile details the long road to justice and new hopes under the peace agreement.
60 Years of Spying on Journalists in Colombia
AMERICAS Foundation for Press Freedom – FLIP 1 September 2015
FLIP’s 9th annual report provides an overview of the press freedom situation in Colombia, including the increasing use of state surveillance.
