By Chris Caesar
law briefs
Catastrophic hurricanes Eta and Iota destroyed the community of the Raizal peoples of Colombia in 2020. Colombia’s response was slow and inadequate, resulting in several alleged human rights violations. Today, many Raizal live in poorly built or shoddily repaired housing, and a few still live in tents, with limited access to medical care and clean water.
Suffolk Law’s Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples Clinic (HRIPC), led by Practitioner-in-Residence Nicole Friederichs, has served as a critical advocate. Student attorneys have helped to document the devastation from the hurricanes and shared a detailed report with United Nations Special Rapporteurs, seven of whom released a public statement expressing grave concern about the Colombian government’s response.
The Raizal’s ancestral territory is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea roughly 480 miles northwest of Colombia’s mainland. Such powerful hurricanes, linked by scientists to climate change, were previously unusual in Raizal territory.
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Photograph: Creative Commons
winter 2024
Catastrophic hurricanes Eta and Iota destroyed the community of the Raizal peoples of Colombia in 2020. Colombia’s response was slow and inadequate, resulting in several alleged human rights violations. Today, many Raizal live in poorly built or shoddily repaired housing, and a few still live in tents, with limited access to medical care and clean water.
Suffolk Law’s Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples Clinic (HRIPC), led by Practitioner-in-Residence Nicole Friederichs, has served as a critical advocate. Student attorneys have helped to document the devastation from the hurricanes and shared a detailed report with United Nations Special Rapporteurs, seven of whom released a public statement expressing grave concern about the Colombian government’s response.
The Raizal’s ancestral territory is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea roughly 480 miles northwest of Colombia’s mainland. Such powerful hurricanes, linked by scientists to climate change, were previously unusual in Raizal territory.
Photograph courtesy of Nicole Friederichs