Person

Jaime Prieto Mendez

Jaime Prieto Mendez is a leading figure in the Colombian human rights movement. Prieto began his career as a teacher in a poor area of Bogotá. Feeling that lack of “human rights literacy” increased the abuses against the poor, he began a human rights education program for which he was later imprisoned.

In 1976, he joined the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners, and in 1990 he became its Executive Director, a position he held until 1998. He then took a teaching position at a university in Bogotá.

New year, new us. Same mission.

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights is rebranding to honor the legacy of our founder and hero, Mrs. Ethel Skakel Kennedy. From now on, we will proudly be known as the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center

While our name is changing, our mission and work remain the same. We will continue to fight injustice, advance human rights, and hold governments accountable around the world in 2026 and beyond.