The National Human Rights Award in Colombia was presented for the fifteenth consecutive year by Act Church of Sweden and Diakonia. Over the years, it has become an important platform for highlighting human rights defenders whose work is often carried out under difficult and high-risk circumstances.
The award ceremony was attended by Erik Lysén, Director of Act Church of Sweden, and Bishop Ulrica Fritzson of the Church of Sweden Diocese of Skara. In addition to participating in the ceremony, and each presenting an award, they will meet churches, human rights organizations, and peace actors that Act Church of Sweden partners with in Colombia.
“Human rights defenders play a crucial role in promoting peace, democracy, and human dignity. Through this award, we want to recognize their courage while also demonstrating that they do not stand alone,” says Erik Lysén, Director of Act Church of Sweden.
The award ceremony is available on the following link: XV PREMIO NACIONAL DE DERECHOS HUMANOS COLOMBIA 2026 - YouTube
The 2026 Award Winners
Human Rights Defender of the Year: Yuly Andrea Velásquez Briceño
The winner of the Human Rights Defender of the Year award is Yuly Andrea Velásquez Briceño, an environmental engineer and leader of the fishing organization FEDEPESAN in the Magdalena Medio region. Through community-based environmental monitoring, she documents pollution, fish deaths, and contamination affecting the Magdalena River and the wetlands on which hundreds of families depend for their livelihoods. Her work shows how the struggle for human rights is often also a struggle to defend nature and people’s rights to clean water, food, and a safe living environment.
Collective Initiative of the Year: The Women’s Programme of CRIC
The award for Collective Experience or Process of the Year in the grassroots and community-based category goes to the Women’s Programme of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC). For more than three decades, the movement has worked to advance Indigenous women’s rights, protection from violence, political participation, and collective care. By combining traditional knowledge with modern methods of organizing and advocacy, the women of CRIC have become a powerful force for peace, gender equality, and Indigenous rights in Cauca.
Human Rights Organization of the Year: Corporación Jurídica Libertad
In the NGO category, the award goes to Corporación Jurídica Libertad, a human rights organization that provides legal support and strategic litigation for individuals and communities whose rights have been violated. The organization represents 380 individual and collective legal cases involving around 900 victims and has worked on some of Colombia’s most significant cases involving enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and the search for missing persons, including investigations related to La Escombrera.
Lifetime Achievement Award: María Bernarda Pabón Rosero
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award goes to María Bernarda Pabón Rosero, widely known as “La Profe.” For nearly four decades, she has worked in popular education, children’s rights, grassroots organizing, and the struggle for land rights. She founded the organization CECUCOL in 1989 and has played a key role in processes that have led to the return of 1,042 hectares of land to more than 480 farming families who had previously been displaced from their homes.