Honorary Host: Congressional Progressive Caucus

The Institute for Policy Studies cordially invites members and staff to attend a briefing with Global Exchange, the Latin America Working Group Education Fund, and the Washington Office on Latin America. Nationwide protests in Colombia in 2020-21 were met with excessive use of force by police. Young people, many of them Afro-Colombian or Indigenous, were killed, wounded, and jailed. Today, the Petro administration, which took office in August 2022, has initiated police reforms, including to protect the right to protest, and has taken steps to address racial discrimination, most notably by advancing the Ethnic Chapter of the 2016 peace accords and launching a new Ministry of Equality and Equity. Yet racial discrimination in law enforcement persists. Come hear experts including Alí Bantú Ashanti, who leads the Racial Justice Collective, a group of Afro-Colombian lawyers who joined to defend young people facing repression during protests. They defend young people affected by police brutality, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, false charges, and racial profiling. The Collective provides comprehensive care and legal support for victims while strengthening the power and resilience of Black communities. Speakers:

• Alí Bantú Ashanti, Racial Justice Collective, Colombia
• Gimena Sánchez-Garzoli, Director for the Andes, Washington Office on Latin America
• Representative from the Embassy of Colombia to the United States

Moderated by Lisa Haugaard, consultant for Latin America Working Group Education Fund and Institute for Policy Studies. Alí Bantú Ashanti, co-founder and director of the Racial Justice Lawyers Collective, is an Afro-Colombian lawyer born in Colombia’s Pacific Coast in Timbiquí, Cauca. He is an expert in strategic litigation, criminal defense, criminology, and constitutional law. Last December 2023, Alí was appointed to serve as an Expert Commissioner for Justice Reform in Colombia by the Colombian government. If you have any questions or would like to RSVP, please contact Lisa Haugaard at lisah@lawg.org. Thank you!