Colombian women's rights activist attacked with acid
By Mia Alberti and Elizabeth Plaza
Published 7:58 PM EDT, Tue April 11, 2023
CNN
—
Colombian police are investigating an acid attack perpetrated against a human rights activist, Lilia Patricia Cardozo, in the country’s northwestern Boyaca region, according to the city’s council.
Cardozo is the director of a womens’ rights NGO called Plataforma Feminista Boyacense (Boyacense Feminist Platform), which works to end domestic abuse, gender violence and discrimination, including rescuing victims from the hands of abusers.
On Monday, an unknown attacker threw a chemical substance at Cardozo while she was walking in a park. Cardozo, who is still under medical observation, suffered injuries in the left part of her face, the spokesperson for the NGO wrote on Facebook.
The San Rafael de Tunja University Hospital said the chemical substance thrown at Cardozo affected 4% of her body, including her face, and her chest.
Cardozo has been a target of death threats since 2022, which led the country’s National Protection Unit to approve a safety protocol to protect her last September.
More:
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/11/americas/colombia-lilia-patricia-cardozo-acid-intl-latam/index.html
Lilia Patricia Cardozo
Google translated from Periodico El Diario:
'Justice for Patricia' will ask this Tuesday at the head of the Tunja Mayor's Office
By THE NEWSPAPER Boyacá-April 11, 2023
In the afternoon of this Monday, April 10, the social leader of Asseinsa NGO, Patricia Cardozo, was the victim of an acid attack in the vicinity of the Santander de Tunja park. She will march at 9:00 in the morning.
The Boyacá Feminist Platform immediately issued an alert in response to the attack suffered by the leader Cardozo in the capital of the department.
"At approximately 6:00 p.m. today, in the vicinity of Santander Park, our fellow human rights defender Patricia Cardozo was attacked with acid in the face, despite the fact that since December 2022 the UNP ordered the Tunja Mayor's Office and its secretary of the Government to adopt the measures to access the scheme that was granted to it", they indicated through their official social networks, just a few minutes after the events.
The Platform reported that an unknown person threw a chemical substance into the face of the social leader and human rights defender, who had already been the victim of threats, harassment, and attacks against her life and physical integrity since last year.
Thus, there were already precedents and specifically, on April 5, when Patricia was going home, a man approached her, tried to attack her with a knife, and threatened to kill her.
"We denounce and hold Mayor Alejandro Fúneme and the Tunja Government Secretary responsible, who have refused to provide the security scheme that the UNP authorized for the protection of Lilia Patricia Cardozo," they added from the Feminist Platform.
The rejection of this act of violence against the renowned leader has already been felt from various sectors and a sit-in is called, by the Platform, to demand 'Justice for Patricia', this Tuesday, April 11, in front of the building of the Mayor of Tunja.
"As of today there is no response, a Municipal Human Rights Committee has never been made, an economic assessment has never been made by the municipality, our partner made repeated requests and on April 4, the Ministry of Finance, which does not have nothing to do, they say there is no money, but they never notified the UNP, they never did any administrative procedure to safeguard Patricia's life and today we are in these unfortunate situations, we fear for her life," said Andrea Ochoa, spokeswoman for the Feminist Platform and legal coordinator of the La Ramona collective.
About Patricia's state of health
The San Rafael de Tunja University Hospital sent a statement in which it categorically rejects the acts of violence against an official of the Institution, who in the afternoon was the victim of an attack with a chemical substance on 4% of the body surface, affecting the face, anterior thorax and thighs.
"An interdisciplinary medical team is evaluating his condition to start treatment and thus minimize the effect produced by the substance on the skin," said the hospital manager, Dr. Germán Pertuz.
Once the medical board is finished, an official report will be informed
about the state of health of the official.
The institution and the entire human team express their solidarity and will accompany her and her family in this recovery process.
More:
https://periodicoeldiario.com/justicia-para-patricia-pediran-este-martes-al-frente-de-la-alcaldia-de-tunja/
