Edwin Legarda Trial: LWBC reacts to the Court ruling

Aida MONTREAL – June 14, 2010 – Rights & Democracy takes note of the guilty verdict against six of seven Colombian soldiers accused in the murder of Edwin Legarda, the husband of indigenous leader Aïda Quilcué, and reiterates its support for the work of Lawyers Without Borders Canada (LWB Canada), which provided a delegation to observe the court proceedings at the request of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca. Edwin Legarda was shot en route to the airport to meet Aïda, who had been in Geneva to participate in the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review of Colombia's human rights record. Rights & Democracy served as an observer at the opening of the trial in January 2010 and has been following its development closely.

Rights & Democracy also wishes to reiterate its solidarity with the Nasa people and Aïda Quilcué, whose reputation was repeatedly attacked during the trial. Rights & Democracy, whose work prioritizes the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, continues to work closely with Colombia's Indigenous Peoples.

For more information, please consult the LWB Canada press release available on their website, www.afsquebec.org , or contact a Rights & Democracy's external relations officer at 514-283-6073.

Rights & Democracy is a non-partisan, independent Canadian institution created by an Act of Parliament in 1988 to promote democratic development and to advocate for and defend human rights set out in the International Bill of Human Rights. In cooperation with civil society and governments in Canada and abroad, Rights & Democracy initiates and supports programmes to strengthen laws and democratic institutions, principally in developing countries.