Colombia: Reinaldo Villalba Vargas from the lawyers' collective CCAJAR wins the 2020 Sir Henry Brooke Awards for Human Rights Defenders
On December 7, 2020 Reinaldo Villalba Vargas will receive the 2020 Sir Henry Brooke Awards for Human Rights Defenders. Reinaldo Villalba Vargas is the President of the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Collective (CCAJAR), a Colombian non-governmental human rights organisation, which aims to contribute to the fight against impunity and the construction of a just and equitable society. The organisation is recognised nationally and internationally for representing emblematic cases of human rights violations in Colombia, both within the Colombian justice system and before the Inter-American System of Human Rights. The high profile nature of the cases it takes on has exposed the organisation to sustained attacks, threats and intimidation since its foundation. CCAJAR works to protect land rights, indigenous people and the environment and advocates for agrarian, water and energy justice. CCAJAR provides legal representation to environmental defenders and promotes legal actions against abuses committed by multinational mining companies in Colombia.