#DefendingTheDefenders – Episode 5: Colombia

We need to talk about the Rule of Law

The fifth episode of #DefendingTheDefenders, the rule of law podcast by Deutscher Anwaltverein and Verfassungsblog, focuses on Colombia, where the situation for attorneys and human rights defenders is particularly dangerous. In recent years, hundreds of attorneys and human rights defenders have been killed, death threats against them are being made on a regular basis, and they have been under pressure by the government as well. The danger they face in their work is deeply connected to the issues they fight for and the clients they represent. In this episode, we talk to CLAUDIA MÜLLER-HOFF, a human rights defender that has worked in Germany for the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and in Colombia for the Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo about the way attorneys and human rights defenders work in these conditions and what needs to be done to protect them.

CLAUDIA MÜLLER-HOFF is a German lawyer with 20 years of experience in internationally active human rights organizations in Europe and Colombia/Latin America. She has worked on the protection of human rights defenders, on business, climate and human rights, and on theater education and political theatre. She currently lives and works in Colombia.