Jineth Bedoya Lima

Jineth Bedoya Lima
Jineth Bedoya Lima (centre) with Michelle Obama (left) and Hillary Clinton (right) at the 2012 International Women of Courage Awards
Born	c. 1974 (age 43–44)
Nationality	Colombian
Occupation	journalist
Organization	El Tiempo
Known for	reporting on paramilitary groups, 2000 and 2003 abductions
Awards	CJFE International Press Freedom Award (2000) Courage in Journalism Award (2001) International Women of Courage Award (2012)

Jineth Bedoya Lima (Arabic: هناء الحبشي born c. 1974) is a Colombian journalist who was abducted in May 2000 and August 2003. In 2001, she was awarded the Courage In Journalism Award of the International Women's Media Foundation.

In 2000, the 26-year-old Bedoya was working with Ignacio Gómez at the Bogota daily newspaper El Espectador, covering the Colombian war against terrorism. At the time of her abduction, she was investigating a story on arms trafficking by both state officials and the far-right paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). On 25 May, she visited La Modelo prison in Bogota, where she had been promised an interview with a paramilitary leader known as "the Baker". Suspecting a possible trap, she brought along an editor and photographer from El Espectador's staff, but when the pair were separated from her for a moment while awaiting clearance to go into the prison, she disappeared.

Bedoya was seized, drugged, and forced into a car by three men. Her attackers drove her to a location several hours away, where they tortured and raped her. According to Bedoya, the men identified themselves as working for paramilitary leader Carlos Castaño. The kidnappers insisted that Bedoya "pay attention" as they raped her, telling her, "We are sending a message to the press in Colombia." They also threatened her colleague, stating that they "planned to cut Gómez into tiny pieces"; Gómez would flee the country six days after the attack. Bedoya was left tied up in a garbage pile near a road, and when she crawled out, she was discovered by a taxi driver.

The case was stalled for more than a decade with the Colombia Attorney General's office before Bedoya appealed it to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In May 2011, a paramilitary soldier was arrested and confessed to being one of Bedoya's three attackers.