May 11, 2021

As UK-based scholars conducting research in Colombia, we express our horror at recent events in Colombia, and call on the British government to support calls to protect the right to peaceful protest.

Since the beginning of the National Strike on 28 April, over 380 people have been reported as disappeared. At least 20 people have lost their lives in clashes between the armed forces and protesters, and there have been widespread reports of the use of sexual violence, racialized persecution and indiscriminate force against protesters. 

We are committed to supporting our partners and colleagues in Colombia. We admire the way in which university leaders in Colombia have offered to act as a bridge for dialogue between social movements, communities and interest groups. We offer our own good offices to support this dialogue from afar in whatever way possible.

We call on the UK government to do everything within its power to stop the violence and to encourage efforts for meaningful national dialogue and the resolution of the structural problems of inequality and impunity that have shaped the protests over the last days.

Signatures

1. Ailsa Peate, University of Westminster
2. Allan Gillies, University of Glasgow
3. Andrei Gómez-Suárez, University of Winchester
4. Alvaro Henao, SOAS
5. Austin Zeiderman, LSE
6. Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, University of Aberystwyth
7. Bethan Fisk, University of Edinburgh 
8. Bryce Lease, Royal Holloway
9. Charles Beach, University College London
10. Cherilyn Elston, University of Reading
11. Claire Taylor, University of Liverpool 
12. Clara Sandoval, University of Essex
13. Clara Voyvodic Casabó, University of Oxford
14. Clarissa Giebel, University of Liverpool
15. Chiara Chiavaroli, LSE
16. Dáire McGill, University of Oxford
17. Elena Stavrevska, LSE
18. Erin Mcfee, LSE
19. Frances Thomson, SOAS
20. Goya Wilson Vasquez, University of Bristol
21. Gwen Burnyeat, University of Oxford
22. Jamie Shenk, University of Oxford
23. Jaskiran Kaur Chohan, University of Bristol
24. Jenny Pearce, LSE
25. Johanna Amaya, University of Essex
26. Jonathan Goodhand, SOAS
27. Jonathan Newman, University of Sussex
28. Jorge Andrés Varela Yepes, University College London
29. Juan Mario Diaz Arevalo, University of Sheffield
30. Julia Paulson, University of Bristol
31. Juliana Velez Echeverri, University of Reading
32. Katherine Gough, Loughborough University
33. Kerry Prior, King’s College London
34. Kyla Sankey, Queen Mary University
35. Larisa Sioneriu, University of Bristol
36. Lars Waldorf, University of Essex
37. Laura Fonseca, LSE
38. Laura Hankin, University of Bristol
39. Lina Malagón, University of Ulster
40. Lucia Brandi, University of Liverpool
41. Maria Paula Escobar-Tello, University of Bristol
42. Matthew Brown, University of Bristol
43. Mo Hume, University of Glasgow
44. Monica Amador-Jimenez, University of Bristol
45. Naomi Millner, University of Bristol
46. Neil Burnside, University of Strathclyde
47. Olga Sorzano Montana, City University 
48. Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Birkbeck, University of London 
49. Peter Watson, University of Leeds
50. Roddy Brett, University of Bristol
51. Roxani Krystalli, University of St Andrews
52. Sabine Michalowski, University of Essex
53. Sam Ritholtz, University of Oxford
54. Sanne Weber, University of Birmingham
55. Simon Rushton, University of Sheffield
56. Sonja Marzi, LSE
57. Tara Van Ho, Lecturer, University of Essex 
58. Tatiana Suárez, University of London
59. Thea Pitman, University of Leeds
60. Tobias Franz, SOAS