The UN named journalist Jineth Bedoya as the new global ambassador in the fight against sexual violence

UN Women Executive Director Pramila Patten has appointed journalist, activist and director of 'El Tiempo', Jineth Bedoya, the UN's new global ambassador for combating sexual violence in the context of the Colombian armed conflict.

“I commend his courage and commitment to elevate the issue of conflict-related sexual violence to the public agenda and historical record in Colombia and around the world, and his quest for justice, truth and reparation for these heinous crimes for two decades,” he said, according to a UN statement.

She also praised her for the “emblematic” ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) on October 18, 2021, which, according to her, has set “a powerful precedent” for women activists, journalists and human rights defenders.

“This ruling marks the first time that a court specifically considers the use of sexual violence as a tool to silence a woman journalist in the context of the Colombian armed conflict,” Patten said.

The Executive Director of UN Women also added that this ruling envisaged “important reparatory measures”, such as the creation of a fund for the prevention, protection and assistance of women journalists who are victims of sexual and gender-based violence.

In this decision, the IACHR “found the Colombian State internationally responsible for the violation of the rights to personal integrity, personal freedom, honor, dignity and freedom of expression to the detriment of journalist Jineth Bedoya,” the organization explained in a statement at the time.

On May 25, 2000, the journalist, who worked for the newspaper 'El Espectador', was abducted from the door of Bogotá's La Modelo prison in Bogotá amid a struggle for control of the courtyards between paramilitaries, guerrillas and gangsters. There were murders, kidnappings, torture and enforced disappearances, which Bedoya denounced.

The journalist had gone to the prison for a meeting with former paramilitary Mario Jaimes Mejía, alias 'el Baker', but it turned out to be a trap: at the prison door she was threatened by an armed man who led her to a basement near the prison.

She was later taken in a vehicle to Villavicencio and on the way she was subjected to torture, ill-treatment and abuse. For a decade the case was practically stopped, until in 2012, after a change of prosecutor, three people were linked.

Specifically, former paramilitaries Alejandro Cárdenas ('J. J. ') and Jesús Emiro Pereira Rivera (' Huevoepizca ') were sentenced to 30 and 40 years in prison, respectively, and 'El Panadero', sentenced to 28 years in prison.

(With information from Europa Press)

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