Jineth Bedoya Lima

Jineth Bedoya Lima (born ) is a Colombian journalist. She 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. She also won the Golden Pen of Freedom award by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers in 2020.

May 2000 abduction In 2000, the 26-year-old Bedoya was working with Ignacio Gómez at the Bogotá 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 Bogotá, 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. The kidnappers insisted that Bedoya "pay attention" as they raped her, telling her, "We are sending a message to the press in Colombia." Bedoya was left tied up in a garbage pile near a road, and when she crawled out, she was discovered by a taxi driver.

August 2003 abduction In 2001, Bedoya was hired by El Tiempo and was put in charge of its law enforcement coverage, including reporting on paramilitary groups. In early August 2003, she traveled to the town of Puerto Alvira to report on how it had been taken and held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for more than a year, forcing its 1,100 inhabitants into full-time cocaine production. The leader of the FARC guerrillas ordered the kidnapping of Bedoya and her photographer immediately on their arrival, stripping them of their cameras and clothing.

As of November 2011, Bedoya continues to work as a journalist for El Tiempo. For security, the Colombian government has assigned her three bodyguards as well as a bulletproof car. In 2001, Bedoya was awarded the Courage In Journalism Award of the International Women's Media Foundation. The award was "big news" in Colombia, raising Bedoya's profile and leading El Tiempo to hire her away from El Espectador''. She later described the award as "one of the things that kept me going" after the first attack.

In 2012, Bedoya was awarded the International Women of Courage Award.

In October 2016 it was announced that RAW in WAR was awarding its annual Anna Politkovskaya Award to Bedoya. She received the award in London on 11 March 2017, at a ceremony during the Women of the World Festival at the Southbank Centre.

In May 2020, Jineth Bedoya Lima received UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. In September 2020, She received golden pen of freedom award.