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My partner’s murder: I’ll never stop demanding the truth

The killing of environmental activist Terrence Freitas in Colombia haunted Abby Reyes, she spent years trying to find the truth behind what happened.

In 1999 Terrence Freitas travelled to Colombia to work on education projects with the indigenous U’wa people. It was dangerous, there was a civil war, and the government was at loggerheads with the U’wa community over their objection to oil exploration on their traditional lands.

Along with two Native American colleagues, Terrence was executed by paramilitaries. No one was ever brought to justice. Abby Reyes was devastated, she has campaigned ever since for the crime to be properly investigated. Even as she tried to move on and start a family, unanswered questions about the killing haunted her. Twenty years later, she got an email from the Colombian government that blew her world apart. As part of the peace process following the formal end of the civil war, the man who had ordered the killing was to give evidence at an inquiry to which Abby was invited.

Abby has written a book about the aftermath of Terence's murder called Truth Demands: A Memoir of Murder, Oil Wars, and the Rise of Climate Justice.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Julian Siddle

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Abby Reyes. Credit: Jamie Grenough)

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41 minutes

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