Jump to content

Catalina Botero Marino

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dr.
Catalina Botero
Catalina Botero in 2024
Born (1965-09-07) 7 September 1965 (age 59)
Bogotá, Colombia
NationalityColombian
CitizenshipColombian
Occupations
Academic background
EducationLaw professional
Alma materUniversity of Los Andes, Colombia
Complutense University of Madrid
Academic work
InstitutionsSpecial Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (2008-2014)
Auxiliary Judge of the Constitutional Court of Colombia (1992-1993 / 1995-2000 / 2005-2008)
Director of the Office of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law of the Social Foundation (2003-2005)
Special Advisor to the Office of the Inspector General of Colombia (1994-1995)

Catalina Botero Marino (born 7 September 1965 in Bogotá)[1] is a Colombian attorney who served as the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) from 2008 to 2014.[2] From 2016 to 2020, she was the Dean of the Law School of the University of Los Andes (Colombia). Since 2020 she is one of four co-chairs of Facebook's Oversight Board, a body that adjudicates Facebook's content moderation decisions.

Biography

[edit]

Early life and education

[edit]

Botero is the daughter of an architect/designer and an ecologist.[3] She attended the Juan Ramón Jiménez secondary school in Bogotá and received her law degree in 1988 from the University of the Andes.[4]

While a student, Botero was a leader of the "Septima Papeleta" (Seventh Ballot) Movement, which called for the convocation of a National Constituent Assembly in Colombia in 1991.[5]

After receiving her law degree, she went on to do postgraduate studies in Public Management and Administrative Law at the same university. She continued her postgraduate work in Madrid, where she studied human rights at the University Human Rights Institute at the Universidad Complutense (1990–91), studied constitutional rights and political science at the Center for Constitutional Studies (1992), and received a degree in advanced studies (DEA) at the Charles III University of Madrid.[6]

Professional life

[edit]

Botero is a member of the external transparency panel of the Inter-American Development Bank, commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists and member of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute Council. She is a visiting professor at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law the (MPIL), an adjunct professor at the American University's Human Rights Academy, and an expert member of the Columbia University's Columbia Global Freedom of Expression Initiative.

She was Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the OAS and an Associate Judge of the Constitutional Court and of the Supreme Administrative Court in Colombia.[7]

She also serves as well as an Arbitrator for the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá.

Catalina Botero participating in a hearing before civil society on the strengthening of the Inter-American Human Rights System in Washington D.C., in 2012.

Special Rapporteur

[edit]

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) elected Botero as Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression on 21 July 2007.[4] She took up the position in July 2008.[7]

In August 2010, Botero and Frank La Rue, the then UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, made recommendations to the Mexican government regarding freedom of expression and access to public information. They stated that Mexico is the most dangerous country for journalists in the Americas.[8] They also criticized the fact that impunity was widespread in Mexico, that free expression was constrained by federal and state laws, that there was lack of media plurality, and that access to public information was increasingly restricted.[8][9]

In 2011, Botero wrote an article entitled "Freedom of Expression in the Americas," which observed that while Latin American military dictatorships had given way, in large part, to democratic governments, a "culture of secrecy" remained in place, as did "restrictive press laws." It stated that "the region faces a number of major challenges," including the protection of journalists, the decriminalization of speech acts, access to information, direct and indirect censorship, and pluralism and diversity in public debate.[10]

In 2012, after Botero criticized attacks on the news media by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, he joined Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in dismissing her criticism of their governments and submitting a proposal to the OAS "to review the freedom of expression office and limit its jurisdiction."[11]

On 22 March 2013, El Comercio (Peru) reported that Botero had expressed concern over restrictions on the commission and its funding that had been proposed by Ecuador, saying that it should have "a permanent fund...that would allow the commission to completely fulfill all its responsibilities." Otherwise, she warned, the Special Rapporteur's office would have to be closed.[12]

Catalina Botero (2014)

Other professional activities

[edit]

In January 2008, Botero took part in a seminar on "Media and Government," arranged in Washington, D.C., by the Inter-American Dialogue.[12] Botero is a member of such organization. In 2012, she was the keynote speaker at a Mexico City event entitled "Change Your World," sponsored by Yahoo!, at which women from around the Americas gathered to discuss and exchange experiences and ideas relating to human rights and technology.[13]

In 2016, Botero Marino, along with a group of Colombian lawyers, the Global Freedom of Expression project at Columbia University, UNESCO, Dejusticia, and The Foundation for Press Freedom, created the Freedom of Expression Case Law online database, allowing access to information of the highest courts of 16 Latin American countries.[14]

On 6 May 2020, Facebook (renamed worldwide in October 2021 as Meta) appointed her to its Oversight Board.[15] Catalina is the Director of the UNESCO Chair on Freedom of Expression at the University of the Andes.[16]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ (La Silla Líder), Fundación Libertad y Democracia. "#Líderes Catalina Botero, abanderada de la generación de la Constitución del 91 #TrendingLíder360º". La Silla Vacía. Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  2. ^ Amy Lieberman (4 November 2015). "International Courts Face a Female Power Push". Women's eNews - www.womensenews.org/. New York, United States of America: Women's eNews. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Catalina Botero, defensora de la expresión de todo el continente (Catalina Botero, freedom of expression defender of the entire continent)". Semana magazine - www.semana.com (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia: Publicaciones Semana S.A. 31 July 2008. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b "IAHCR Elects Catalina Botero Marino as Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression". Organization of American States. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Séptima Papeleta: 30 años del movimiento estudiantil (Seventh Ballot: 30 years of the student movement)". Universidad of Los Andes - www.derecho.uniandes.edu.co (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia: Universidad de los Andes. 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Catalina Botero Marino - Magistrada Auxiliar, Corte Constitucional de Colombia (Catalina Botero Marino - Auxiliary Magistrate of the Constitutional Court of Colombia)" (PDF). Inter-American Commission on Human Rights - www.cidh.org/ (in Spanish). Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 2010" (PDF). Inter-American Commission on Human Rights - www.cidh.org. 4 March 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Relatorías para la libertad de expresión de la ONU y la OEA concluyen visita a México". Campaña Permanente. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  9. ^ ""En el plebiscito a todos nos faltó humildad": Catalina Botero ("In the plebiscite we all lacked humility": Catalina Botero)". Semana magazine - www.semana.com (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia: Publicaciones Semana S.A. 6 October 2016. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  10. ^ "La Libertad de Expresión en las Américas". FOPEA. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  11. ^ "Tensions rise between Ecuadorian President and free expression watchdog". UNCUT. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  12. ^ a b Cecilia Rosales Ferreyros; Miguel Vivanco (22 March 2013). "La CIDH advierte que se cerraría relatoría de prensa si se restringe financiamiento (The IACHR warns that the press office would be closed if financing is restricted)". El Comercio newspaper - www.elcomercio.pe (in Spanish). Lima, Peru: Empresa Editora El Comercio. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  13. ^ "Catalina Botero, la mujer latina que cuida tus derechos". Yahoo! Mexico. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
  14. ^ "Online global database of freedom of expression case law in Latin America now available". Archived from the original on 23 November 2016.
  15. ^ "Facebook names first members of oversight board that can overrule Zuckerberg". Reuters. 7 May 2020. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  16. ^ USIP event in 2024
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Catalina Botero.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Catalina_Botero_Marino&oldid=1227109508"