On December 6, PBI-Colombia tweeted:

“We accompany @Credhos_Paz in the return of Raul Amaya, leader of the Association of Victims #MagdalenaMedio forcibly displaced from #PuertoBerrío due to serious attacks. @Credhos_Paz recently accredited as a collective victim case08 @JEP_Colombia requests #GuaranteesOfNonRepetition.”

CREDHOS has also tweeted:

“#Credhos accompanied by @PBIColombia are in #PuertoBerrio offering their #Solidarity to #RaúlAmaya displaced and threatened defender, #Today he has returned to his municipality. We demand that @JEP_Colombia [Special Jurisdiction for Peace] guarantees the Right to life, integrity, security, and permanence in the region.”

Amaya Torres had been forcibly displaced from Puerto Berrio for the past three months. Puerto Berrio is a town in the department of Antioquia. It is located about 130 kilometers southwest of Barrancabermeja.

As noted in the PBI-Colombia tweet, CREDHOS was also recently recognized as a collective victim in Case 08.

That means that CREDHOS has been recognized as a collective victim of “crimes committed by members of the public force, other agents of the State, or in association with paramilitary groups, or civilian third parties, for cause, on the occasion of, or in direct or indirect relation to the Colombian armed conflict.”

El Espectador has also explained: “The Regional Corporation for the Defense of Human Rights (Credhos) was accredited as the first collective victim in macro case 08 of the JEP. Despite this, armed groups active in that region continue to threaten the organization and even declared it a military objective.”

“On December 10, 2021, CREDHOS filed before that transitional justice court the document ‘Today as yesterday: report on the victimization of human rights defenders in the Magdalena Medio region in the context of the armed conflict’. There they showed how, between 1987 and 2016, people from this organization were recurrent targets of crimes – many in impunity – mainly perpetrated by paramilitaries and state agents.”

“The report reports the effects on more than 80 members (including managers and researchers) of CREDHOS, during those years. All had conducted investigations alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians, including human rights defenders.”

The article also highlights: “Despite the JEP’s recognition, the threats have not ceased. Credhos has continued to carry out investigations in which oil multinationals, mayors, the high command of the public forces, and businessmen have been muddied for the commission of atrocious crimes during the armed conflict. This has once again brought them harassment and stigmatization.”

To read the full article, please go to Credhos, el costo de defender los derechos humanos en la guerra del Magdalena Medio.

PBI-Colombia has accompanied CREDHOS since 1994.