[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 151 (Monday, October 28, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S7570]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN COLOMBIA

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to express my thanks to the 
governments of Colombia, Cuba and Norway, and to the International 
Committee of the Red Cross and the Reverend Jessie Jackson, for their 
efforts to secure the release yesterday of American citizen, Kevin 
Scott Sutay, who was kidnapped by the FARC earlier this year. I hope 
this is another sign that negotiations to end Colombia's decades long 
armed conflict are progressing, and that a peace agreement is possible.
  I also want to take this opportunity to call attention to the 
contributions of two courageous Colombian human rights activists, 
Islena Rey and Father Alejandro Angulo Novoa, and to the challenges 
they and other human rights defenders face.
  On September 9, Colombia's Human Rights Day, both were awarded for 
their human rights work in a presentation organized by Di logo Inter-
Agencial en Colombia, a consortium of international nongovernmental 
organizations working for human rights in Colombia. This is the second 
year of the awards, and they were presented during a time of increasing 
attacks against human rights defenders in that country. The awards are 
significant not only because they recognize the recipients' 
contributions, but also because they help to reduce the social stigma 
that surrounds human rights work in Colombia and many other countries.
  Islena Rey, founder of the Meta Civic Committee for Human Rights, was 
named Defender of the Year for her efforts to bring together and 
organize community leaders in support of victims of human rights 
abuses. She works in one of Colombia's most dangerous regions, the 
Eastern Plains, which has long been plagued by violence spurred by the 
illegal narcotics trade.
  Ms. Rey knows the risks. Four years ago this month, she was shot and 
seriously wounded while returning from a community meeting. She is also 
the sole survivor of the original Meta Committee members, who, 
throughout the 1990s, were systematically assassinated, leaving her to 
carry out her advocacy work alone. Four years after nearly losing her 
life, she presses on, conducting investigations, providing support to 
victims, and working to rebuild the Meta Committee.
  In addition to recognizing Islena Rey, the organization presented 
Father Alejandro Angulo Novoa with the Life Long Defender award for his 
contributions to human rights in Colombia over the past 4 decades. 
Father Alejandro is one of the founders of the Center for Research and 
Popular Education in Bogota. He is currently the coordinator of CINEP's 
human rights database which collects, records, and disseminates 
information on the most serious violations of human rights and 
international humanitarian law. He has dedicated his life to this work 
and to supporting the poor and excluded.
  The courage and dedication displayed by these two individuals 
represents just a small fraction of the essential work being done by 
human rights defenders in Colombia. It is all the more remarkable 
because, despite some notable progress in investigating, prosecuting 
and punishing those responsible for heinous crimes, impunity is the 
norm and Colombia remains a very dangerous place for lawyers, social 
activists, and journalists who work and report on human rights.
  Islena Rey, Father Alejandro, and countless other brave Colombians 
will continue tending to victims of human rights abuses. They are 
undeterred by the social stigma they face, or the threats and acts of 
violence against them and their colleagues. They deserve our respect 
and our thanks, because the protection of human rights, wherever they 
are threatened or denied, is everybody's responsibility.

                          ____________________