The Office in Colombia of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights) urged the Colombian State this Thursday to strengthen the protection of human rights defenders, especially those Venezuelans Yendri Omar Velásquez and Luis Alejandro Pechewho were attacked on Monday in the north of Bogotá by armed people.
The organization strongly condemned the attack, in which both activists were injured, and asked the authorities for a thorough investigationprompt and effective that allows those responsible to be identified and punished, in order to prevent events of this type from being repeated.
Call to guarantee medical care and safe shelter for Velásquez and Peche
The UN also asked the Colombian government ensure proper medical care and recovery of defenderswho are under international protection.
Velásquez, founder of the Observatory for the Defense of the Rights of LGBTIQ+ People, has collaborated with Amnesty International Venezuela since 2016 and processes his request for refuge in Colombia. Peche, political consultant, internationalist and journalist, disseminates information about politics and human rights in Venezuela and moved to Colombia in May 2025. Both were victims of harassment for their work defending civil rights.
The statement recalls that Yendri Velásquez was arbitrarily detained in Venezuela in 2024, when he was on his way to Geneva, Switzerlandto intervene before the UN Committee against Racial Discrimination. His case has been documented by the UN Office in Venezuela and mentioned in reports by the Committee against Racial Discrimination, the Fact-Finding Mission and the UN Secretary-General on reprisals.
The UN reiterated its call to guarantee effective protection mechanisms for all people forced to flee their countries and who today require refuge in Colombia. In that nation, almost 3 million migrants seek to rebuild their lives, which is why the organization considers it essential to strengthen mechanisms of mutual respect and rejection of violence or discrimination.
