EuroLatinAmerican Institute for Justice and Rule of Law

Contact Information

• Where – Colombia (Latin America)
• Contact Person – Gonzalo de Cesare
• Email – gonzalodecesare@me.com; gonzalo.decesare@eulalex.org
• Address – Calle 30A No 6-22, Bogotá DC, Colombia

Areas of Expertise

EuroLatinAmerican Institute for Justice and Rule of Law has expertise in a range of areas, including:

• Justice and the Rule of Law
• Reconciliation and Dealing with the Past
• Transitional, Restorative and Retributive Justice

Main Aims and Objectives

EULALEX works to promote the rule of law in Latin America. With an emphasis on two countries (for the time being), EULALEX participates in programs to establish jurisprudence and return allow access to rights to the whole (and especially vulnerable) population, works with victims of armed conflict and advises the judiciary of Colombia.

EULALEX’s mission involves:

• Strengthening the judiciary through knowledge and information management;
• Development of relational databases and IM/KM systems and procedures;
• Text mining and data mining to maximize efficiency in unstructured information and contribute to bring justice;
• Establishment of “memory” and “history” as a pillar to move forward (never forget);
• Protection of victims of armed/violent Conflict;
• Gender awareness and establishment of early warning systems for the prevention of Femicides/Feminicides and gender-based crimes, as well as hate crimes associated with gender and gender identification;
• Capacity building to officials and authorities in the equality of treatment for all people.;
• Advocacy work on behalf of vulnerable groups and minorities in the attention of the equality of their rights and building jurisprudence to ensure their continuous protection.

Upholding the Principles of Conflict Transformation

EULALEX is an initiative which aims at making justice more accessible in Latin America through the promotion of equality and access to rights. Enshrined are the values of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Values of equality that each person is entitled to have. In that, EULALEX believes that it is paramount to have an efficient justice/legal system and uses technology and knowledge to achieve this. EULALEX is committed to strengthening the formal and less-formal legal structures, strengthen civil and civic society organizations in their work as watchdogs to ensure equality and access to rights. From the Director to its other collaborators, EULALEX gathers a multidisciplanary team, graduated from the most prestigious universities and with vast work experience working for and advising their governments, in the United Nations (UN), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union (EU).

Where and with Whom?

EULALEX works with NGOs, Governmental Agencies (particularly the judiciary and LEAs) of Colombia and Perú. Working in Medellín and Bogotá in Colombia and in Lima in Perú.

Soon new projects and programs will bring EULALEX to:

• The Amazon Region in Perú – to restore rights and create jurisprudence for the protection of a vulnerable population that has been invisible and targeted for decades;
• In the Meta in Colombia – to help establish the truth in the ongoing conflict through thorough investigative and social incidence work;
• The rest of Antioquia in Colombia and a country-wide program that will focus on the study of the femicides, their impact and which is expected to be ground breaking in really transforming conflict and creating EWS, not only for LatinAmerica but elsewhere as well.

Main Activities in the Field of Conflict Transformation

EULALEX is engaged in:

• Working with victims of armed conflict;
• Designed a program for the prevention of torture and raising awareness on torture;
• Work on the identification of ‘bodies’, matching them to DNA and providing closure;
• Design of transitional and restorative Justice programs in Colombia to transform the reality of those who have known nothing but violence;
• Working on a Feminicide Project that will allow an early warning system on these crimes that target only women and establish the link between the armed conflict and feminicides;