Berenice Celeita Alayon (sometimes spelled 'Celeyta') is a Colombian human rights activist. She is the president of the ''Asociacion Para la Investigacion y Accion Social'' (NOMADESC), which investigates regional human rights abuses. In 1998, she won the

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, was created by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial in 1984, now known as the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights to honour individuals around the world who have shown great courage and have made a significant contr ...

along with fellow Colombian activists Gloria Florez, Jaime Prieto, and

Mario Calixto Mario Calixto (born c. 1959) is a Colombian human rights activist. In the 1990s, Calixto was the president of the Human Rights Committee of Sabana de Torres and was repeatedly threatened by paramilitary groups for his denunciations of their acti ...

. Celeita attributes the beginning of her activism in human rights to the 1985

Palace of Justice siege The Palace of Justice siege was a 1985 attack on the Supreme Court of Colombia, in which members of the leftist M-19 guerrilla group took over the Palace of Justice in Bogotá and held the Supreme Court hostage, intending to hold a trial agains ...

, in which M-19 guerrillas took the

Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia The Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia ( es, Corte Suprema de Justicia de Colombia) in Bogotá is the highest judicial body in civil and penal matters and issues of criminal and civil procedure in Colombia. The Supreme Court of Colombia is th ...

hostage, killing 11 of its 25 justices. Celeita was at the time a freshman in college, and had several professors among the dead. She later founded NOMADESC, which is based in Valle del Cauca province in southern Colombia. NOMADESC offers human rights training courses which graduate 150 people a year to return to local communities for advocacy and development. The organization also reports on human rights violations related to the mining of gold, nickel, and uranium, as well as petroleum drilling. NOMADESC is a part of people's congress which started during 2004 to 2008. The

Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (formerly the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, or RFK Center) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit human rights advocacy organization. It was named after United States Senator Robert F. Kenned ...

has stated that in 2004, Celeita was one of 175 human rights activists and unionists targeted by the Colombian government for assassination in "Operation Dragon". A colonel and two majors of the

Colombian Army The National Army of Colombia ( es, Ejército Nacional de Colombia) is the land warfare service branch of the Military Forces of Colombia. With over 361,420 active personnel as of 2020, it is the largest and oldest service branch in Colombia, ...

were arrested in September 2011 for the attacks. She received death threats again in 2010 via

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

after attending a ceremony for

Human Rights Day Human Rights Day is celebrated annually around the world on 10 December every year. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on 10 December 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Right ...

, causing

Front Line A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an armed force's personnel and equipment, usually referring to land forces. When a front (an intentional or uninte ...

to issue an alert on her behalf.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celeita, Berenice Living people Colombian human rights activists Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Women human rights activists Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award laureates