1998: Berenice Celeyta, Gloria Florez, Jaime Prieto & Mario Calixto, Colombia

Biography

Biography

In November 1998, four Colombia human rights acitivists received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for their advocacy toward social change. Ms. Celeyta, President of La Asociación NOMADESC, is currently being targeted by death threats because of her valiant work with labor organizations. NOMADESC is a non-governmental organization dedicated to working with communities suffering from violence and oppression and defending the rights of Afro-descendants, IDPs and victims of the armed conflict. Ms. Flórez, Director of MINGA, the Association for Alternative Social Policy, works tirelessly to assist those displaced by the war in Colombia. Mr. Méndez is a founder and leading figure of the Colombian human rights movement. Mr. Calixto, a former president of the Sabana de Torres Human Rights Committee in Colombia, narrowly escaped armed assailants in 1997 and currently lives in exile in Spain.

For more information, please contact: Marselha Gonçalves Margerin, (202) 463-7575x224, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it