Yuly Velásquez is a human rights defender and environmentalist in Colombia. She is president of the Federation of Artisanal, Environmental and Tourist Fisherfolk of the Department of Santander (FEDEPESAN), an organization whose members are threatened and attacked for trying to protect the environment from pollution.
At a ceremony in Berlin on June 4, Yuly was presented with a prestigious human rights award from Amnesty Germany. Yuly was given the award for selflessly defending human rights despite the dangers.
Yuly said the award will help raise the profile of her organization’s work and pressure the Colombian authorities to address human rights violations. “We dedicate this award to the fishers who were murdered and dumped into the river, while those who murdered them have gone unpunished,” Yuly said. “We dedicate it to the widows and orphans, to the protectors of rivers, wetlands, and canals.”