11th July, 2012

The World Council of Churches has expressed "great concern" after death threats were made against a group of human rights defenders in the South American nation of Colombia.

The 13 human rights defenders, who include Dr Lilia Solano, director of the Life and Justice Project and chair of the Faculty of Law and Political and Social Sciences at the National University of Colombia, were targeted in a "communication" received by the National Movement of Victims of State Crimes on 4th July.

In a letter to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Dr Roger Mshana, the WCC's acting associate general secretary for public witness and diakonia, urges the government to "take all necessary measures to effectively protect the life and physical integrity” of the 13.

“Such threats seriously impede the work of human rights defenders in Colombia by creating a widespread climate of fear,” writes Dr Mshana.

- www.oikoumene.org

- DAVID ADAMS