Dejusticia, Colombia Diversa and Alerta Venezuela reject this act of violence, which shows the enormous vulnerability in which Venezuelan human rights defenders find themselves, even outside the country from which they had to flee. This fact confirms the urgency for the Colombian government to provide these people with all the guarantees of protection and security for the exercise of their work, recognising the seriousness of the repressive context in which they are living in Venezuela.

We also join the call of Venezuelan organisations and defenders on the urgent need for the Colombian government to swiftly resolve the refugee applications of Venezuelan migrants at risk. Yendri Velásquez, for example, arrived in Colombia in 2024 after facing persecution and restrictions on his freedom in Venezuela. Since then, he has been waiting for a response from the Colombian migration authorities to his refugee application.

This delay increases the conditions of vulnerability for people like Yendri, because in the absence of a regular migration status they face serious obstacles in accessing basic rights and the risks to their security are accentuated. The refugee application and migration regularisation procedures must be accessible to all migrants and the state is called upon to overcome the barriers that currently exist.

Finally, we call on the Colombian government to move forward decisively in the judicial investigation of the events in which both activists were injured. It is serious that, in broad daylight, crimes are committed against human rights defenders and there is still no clarity as to who the perpetrators were.

Dejusticia, Colombia Diversa and Alerta Venezuela stand in solidarity with Luis Alejandro and Yendri, and hope for their speedy recovery. Colombia, the country with the highest number of murdered defenders in the world, should be able to offer safe spaces and sufficient protection tools for Colombian and other activists to carry out their important work for justice, equity, human rights and democratic values.