The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50829
CROSS EXAMINED The watchers N ot every nation greets visitors with orders to visit the nearest intelli- gence agency office to be finger- printed, photographed, and have blood samples taken. Philippe Tremblay took the invasive welcome in stride when he went to Colombia last year as a new program manager for Lawyers Without Borders Canada. He also "took it for granted that my phone line was tapped and my e-mails intercepted." In Colombia, privacy is an ambiguous concept at best, especially if you are a human rights lawyer. Tremblay, 37, who hails from Quebec City, has made many working trips since that first one, with its less-than-warm welcome, to assist LWBC's main partner in Colombia, the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Collective (CAJAR). Elisabeth Patterson, another LWBC member and a partner with Montreal firm Dionne Schulze s.e.n.c., also contributed her expertise last year to the collective. Patterson, who negotiates on behalf of aboriginal groups in Canada, travelled with CAJAR lawyers this past November to the southwestern province of Nariño in Colombia. Nariño is considered one of the more dangerous areas, with armed paramilitaries, guerrillas, and military vying for control. Patterson, 36, provided training to indigenous groups in Nariño that are seeking reparation as a result of displacement, intimidation, and murder. It is a calculated risk working in condi- tions where the law of the jungle supersedes the rule of law. Tremblay and Patterson marvel at their CAJAR colleagues, who work under pressures unimaginable in Canada. "Seeing the level of dedication of these people and the risk that they take every day and seeing how courageous they are makes me very humble," says Tremblay. Adds Patterson: "I find that I can become dis- couraged at the political situation here in Canada, but what they face is 100 times worse. I don't know if I could continue working within this context." 20 M AY 2010 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com Quebec lawyers help colleagues in Colombia fight for human rights. BY ROBER TA S TAL E Y Gripped by a bloody civil conflict for 50 years, Colombia has consistently been near or topped United Nations global murder and kidnapping rates. A law degree does not pro- vide protection from the violence; in some cases, it makes one a target. According to a report released last year by the Caravana Internacional de Juristas, commonly called Colombia Caravana, more than 400 lawyers have been the victims of targeted killings since Philippe Tremblay and Elisabeth Patterson have both done work in Colombia through Lawyers Without Borders Canada.