Iván Velásquez Gómez (born 12 May 1955) is a Colombian

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Un ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. From October 2013 to September 2019, he was the head of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).

Biography

Iván Velásquez was born in

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

, Colombia. He studied law at the

University of Antioquia The University of Antioquia ( es, Universidad de Antioquia), also called UdeA, is a public, departmental, coeducational, research university located primarily in the city of Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia, with regional campuses in Amalfi, Andes ...

. Later, he was appointed Antioquia Deputy Prosecutor during 1991 and 1994, where he initiated investigations related to torture, extrajudicial executions and abuses. In 1996 he was assistant magistrate in the Council of State, and a year later he was elected Regional Director of Public Prosecutors' Offices in Medellin for 1997 to 1999. He was elected auxiliary magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia in 2000. Between 2006 and 2012, Velásquez coordinated the Commission of Investigative Support of the Criminal Chamber, in charge of investigating the

Parapolitica The Colombian parapolitics scandal or "parapolítica" in Spanish (a combination of the words '' paramilitar'' and '' política'') refers to the 2006–present Colombian congressional scandal in which several congressmen and other politicians hav ...

case. In 2011 he was awarded the World Human Rights Prize by the

International Bar Association The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA currently has a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associa ...

and a year later the Association of German Judges awarded him for his commitment in the fight against corruption. At the end of September 2013, he was appointed Commissioner of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) at the level of Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations Organization, replacing

Francisco Dall'Anese Francisco Dall'Anese Ruiz (born 1960) was the Attorney-General of Costa Rica. Biography Dall'Anese attended the University of Costa Rica, where he studied law. He later taught criminal law at the University, and is co-author of five books an ...

. In 2018 he was awarded the

Right Livelihood Award The Right Livelihood Award is an international award to "honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." The prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish philanthropist Jakob ...

along with

Thelma Aldana Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández (; born 27 September 1955) is a Guatemalan jurist and politician, former President of the Supreme Court and former Attorney General. Life Aldana was born in Gualán, eastern Guatemala, in 1955. She graduated ...

for "their innovative work ith CICIGin exposing abuse of power and prosecuting corruption, thus rebuilding people’s trust in public institutions." On 27 June 2022 he was appointed new

Defense Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

under President-elect Gustavo Petro.''Colombia President-elect Petro names Ivan Velasquez as defense minister''
reuters.com, retrieved 27 June 2022

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Velásquez Gomez, Iván Living people 1955 births 20th-century Colombian lawyers University of Antioquia alumni University of Antioquia faculty 21st-century Colombian judges Colombian officials of the United Nations People from Medellín Cabinet of Gustavo Petro Colombian Ministers of Defense 21st-century Colombian politicians