Priest under death threat begins UK tour

-11/10/04

Father Javier Giraldo, a Colombian Ca


Priest under death threat begins UK tour

-11/10/04

Father Javier Giraldo, a Colombian Catholic priest and internationally renowned human rights advocate, is beginning a speaking tour of the UK.

The high-profile human rights campaigner is under a permanent death threat because of his 25 years of constant efforts to draw world attention to human rights abuses in Colombia.

He will speak at meetings in Bristol, London, Brighton, Oxford, Crewe, Derby, Sheffield and Liverpool between November 12 and 21.

The highlights of the trip will be two public meetings on Tuesday, November 16, on the theme of Human Rights and Impunity in Colombia.

The first will be at the London School of Economics, in the Centre for the Study of Human Rights, from 1pm to 2.30pm. At 7.15 pm he will speak at a public meeting in the House of Commons, hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Rights, and chaired by Jeremy Corbyn, MP.

Fr Giraldo worked as General Secretary of the Colombian Interchurch Commission for Justice and Peace, from 1988 to 1998, when he was often the spokesperson for victims of human rights violations in cases brought before Colombian courts.

The Commission for Justice and Peace provides humanitarian and legal support to people in areas of intense conflict. Staff have developed close relationships with impoverished communities suffering in the midst of armed conflict, and many have gained the courage to declare themselves peace communities – not aligned with any armed party in the conflict.

Fr Giraldo has also worked with the Centre for Investigation and Popular Education) and the Association of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees.

He was recently awarded the III Juan Maria Bandres Peace Prize by the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid.

Meeting details:

Monday November 15, Brighton: The Meeting House, University of Sussex, Falmer, 6pm.

Tuesday November 16, London School of Economics, 1-2.30pm.

Tuesday November 16, House of Commons, 7.15pm. Organised by Colombia Solidarity Campaign and Peace Brigades International (UK). Supported by Latin America Bureau. You will need to register in advance for this meeting, as attendance will be on a ticket-only basis. Please contact the Colombia Solidarity Campaign at [email protected] or on 07743 743041.

Wednesday November 16, Oxford and Crewe.

Thursday November 17, 7.30pm, Diocesan Centre, Mornington Crescent, Mackworth, Derby

Friday November 19, daytime, Sheffield: Urban Theology Unit, 210 Abbeyfield Road, Sheffield S4

Friday November 19, evening, Liverpool Quaker Meeting House.


Priest under death threat begins UK tour

-11/10/04

Father Javier Giraldo, a Colombian Catholic priest and internationally renowned human rights advocate, is beginning a speaking tour of the UK.

The high-profile human rights campaigner is under a permanent death threat because of his 25 years of constant efforts to draw world attention to human rights abuses in Colombia.

He will speak at meetings in Bristol, London, Brighton, Oxford, Crewe, Derby, Sheffield and Liverpool between November 12 and 21.

The highlights of the trip will be two public meetings on Tuesday, November 16, on the theme of Human Rights and Impunity in Colombia.

The first will be at the London School of Economics, in the Centre for the Study of Human Rights, from 1pm to 2.30pm. At 7.15 pm he will speak at a public meeting in the House of Commons, hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Rights, and chaired by Jeremy Corbyn, MP.

Fr Giraldo worked as General Secretary of the Colombian Interchurch Commission for Justice and Peace, from 1988 to 1998, when he was often the spokesperson for victims of human rights violations in cases brought before Colombian courts.

The Commission for Justice and Peace provides humanitarian and legal support to people in areas of intense conflict. Staff have developed close relationships with impoverished communities suffering in the midst of armed conflict, and many have gained the courage to declare themselves peace communities – not aligned with any armed party in the conflict.

Fr Giraldo has also worked with the Centre for Investigation and Popular Education) and the Association of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees.

He was recently awarded the III Juan Maria Bandres Peace Prize by the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid.

Meeting details:

Monday November 15, Brighton: The Meeting House, University of Sussex, Falmer, 6pm.

Tuesday November 16, London School of Economics, 1-2.30pm.

Tuesday November 16, House of Commons, 7.15pm. Organised by Colombia Solidarity Campaign and Peace Brigades International (UK). Supported by Latin America Bureau. You will need to register in advance for this meeting, as attendance will be on a ticket-only basis. Please contact the Colombia Solidarity Campaign at [email protected] or on 07743 743041.

Wednesday November 16, Oxford and Crewe.

Thursday November 17, 7.30pm, Diocesan Centre, Mornington Crescent, Mackworth, Derby

Friday November 19, daytime, Sheffield: Urban Theology Unit, 210 Abbeyfield Road, Sheffield S4

Friday November 19, evening, Liverpool Quaker Meeting House.