John Fredy Ortiz Jiménez

Cases

Relevant SG report

From Country

Country Geolocation

Latitude: 4.570868

Longitude: -74.297333

From Region

UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report

Individual's/organization's activity: While undertaking his military service with the 14th Battalion of the 14th Brigade based in Puerto Berrio, Antioquia, between 2004 and 2006, John Fredy Ortiz Jiménez reportedly witnessed several extrajudicial executions of civilians presented by the army as “falsos positivos”.

Type of rights defended

Was the victim a civil servant, member of the security forces or of the judiciary?: No

Reported trigger of reprisal: In 2008, Mr. Ortiz Jiménez publicly denounced the executions he had witnessed and the modus operandi of falsos positivos. Mr. Ortiz Jiménez met with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions during his visit to Colombia in 2009.

Engagement with UN body

Type of attempted engagement

Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials

Reprisal information: On 7 March 2012, it was reported that several persons beat Mr. Ortiz Jiménez and injured his arm, while trying to drag him into a vehicle in Barranquilla. On 10 May 2012, one day after he met with an OHCHR official, Mr. Ortiz Jiménez was threatened by two persons in a street in Baranquilla who demanded: “What were you doing with the UN woman yesterday?

Reportedly, the protection programme of the Colombian Attorney General‟s Office provided some protection for Mr. Ortiz Jiménez. However, after the birth of his daughter, he was obliged, despite continuing security concerns, to leave the protection programme as it refused to cover his family members.

Types of reprisals suffered

Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?: No

Further case development: On 13 March 2012, OHCHR in Colombia requested the Attorney General to implement protection measures for Mr. Ortiz Jiménez, but on 30 April 2012, the Attorney General‟s Office communicated to him that the protection programme had decided to deny his incorporation into the programme.

Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?: No

Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?: No

Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?: No

Follow up information provided in SG report 0

Further to the information included in my previous report regarding John Fredy Ortiz Jimenez,27 who in 2008 had given testimony on the modus operandi of the “false positives”and who had been forced to leave the protection programme of the Attorney General’s Office because the latter refused to include members of his family in the programme, despite requests by OHCHR Colombia, new information received indicates that, in December 2012, several people stopped Mr. Ortiz Jimenez in the centre of the city of Barranquilla and attempted to abduct him. Further, on 13 May 2013, while Mr. Ortiz Jimenez was driving to a store in Barranquilla, he was reportedly approached by two people who threatened his daughter and nephew. The National Protection Unit undertook a risk study on his situation at the end of 2012, concluding that the risk was “extraordinary”. Since mid-January 2013, the Unit has provided him with a bulletproof vest, a communications device and a transportation allowance. The police also carry out patrols around his home.