Alicia Pradera is a Colombian educator, researcher, human rights defender and member of the non-governmental organisation Pensamiento y Acción Social (PAS), from which she has accompanied communities and organisations of the south-west of the country in defence of their collective rights related to their territory and environment. She has worked with these communities for over 26 years, allowing the PAS organisation to be recognised at a community level, among other social organisations and in the international community.
HRDs in Colombia work in a violent and unsafe environment. They are subjected to threats, intimidation, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, physical assaults, torture, killings, illegal searches of their homes and offices and stigmatisation as a result of their activities in defence of human rights. The perpetrators of these abuses are frequently paramilitary groups, many of whom have links to the government or security services, or armed opposition groups. The continued frequent and severe threats and attacks against HRDs around the country contradict government claims of paramilitary demobilisation.
