A few days ago I received an e-mail message from a human rights activist with one of the main organizations in Colombia. She was saying goodbye. She had stayed in the country despite all the threats against her and her family, several kidnappings, the final forced-disappearance of her brother. But things are getting worse against human rights defender, and with much guilt and regret, she’s decided to go away. She has a daughter, she owes her something.
From the safety of my chair, of my home, of my town here in California, it’s almost incomprehensible to me that people can have so much courage, so much commitment, to continue fighting, day in and day out, against the horrors of death squads and genocidal democracies. I don’t understand why the Nobel committee has not yet given the Nobel peace prize to the collective of human rights defenders in Colombia. Nobody in the world deserves it more.
A short posting, on a blog, is not worth much – but I want this to be one of my homages towards the people who make me proud to be a human rights activist, and ashamed of not being a better and more courageous one.