Civis Human Rights and Peace Newsletter No 1/2010

Interview with Danilo Rueda, member of the Inter-Ecclesial Commission of Justice and Peace

The Inter-Ecclesial Commission for Justice and Peace (in Spanish: Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz CIJyP), based in Bogotá, is a human rights organization with an outstanding history in Colombia. The organization accompanies victims, rural communities, Afro-Colombians and indigenous people in order to defend their fundamental rights and during the process of recovering their territory in different regions of Colombia.

In November of 2009 four regional leaders of Civis’ partner organization “Red de Jóvenes del Magdalena Medio” received death threats from a paramilitary group. As a consequence, and with the help of UNHCR and Civis, the four young men, together with the wife and baby of one of them, fled to Bogotá to save their lives.

The Leteo Youth Association is based in Madrid, Cundinamarca, just outside of Bogotá, and has been working with Civis since 2006. The organization is implementing different activities with the purpose of reconstructing the social fabric in several municipalities in the department of Cundinamarca that have been affected by the social and political conflict in the country. However, during the last two years, the work of the organization has been marked by different difficulties, relating to youth participation.