From the small port city of Buenaventura, Colombia, to Boulder, Colorado, Yuly Campiño’s (LLM '19) passion for advocacy has fueled her academic and professional endeavors.
The next stop on her journey? Washington, D.C., where Campiño will complete a competitive one-year fellowship at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
"As an Afro-Colombian woman born in one of the most vulnerable areas of Colombia, human rights and speaking for those who have no voice was a goal that traces me since I began my studies," she said.
Campiño will graduate next week with an LLM degree in International Law and Human Rights. She came to the University of Colorado Law School to advance her passion for the respect of human rights around the world.
A practicing lawyer in Colombia for four years, Campiño brought a wealth of experiences with her to Colorado Law. While a student at the Universidad Externado de Colombia, a private university in Bogotá, she volunteered for organizations providing services to communities displaced by armed conflict; worked with other Afro-Colombian attorneys to study various manifestations of racism and methods of combating racism; and interned with Colombia's First Commission of the Senate.
She also served as a legal adviser to both the president of the Congress of Colombia and Colombia's penitentiary and prison services unit, where she helped protect the rights of Colombia's prison population.
Her LLM degree has helped her broaden her understanding of human rights while deepening her respect of different points of view.
"I have always thought that through education, you can build a better society and that respect for difference is the basis of that coexistence. But, my understanding of human rights was very narrow. My main concern has been racism in my country, which made my analysis sort of individualistic. But, after my time in the LLM program at CU, I now understand that all human beings, no matter our ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion, are entitled to respect, because each of us has our own history," she said.
At the IACHR, she will work with the primary international mechanism overseeing compliance with basic human rights in the Western Hemisphere.
"In my region, opportunities are limited and having the opportunity to work at the IACHR is a dream come true. I will always be grateful to CU for opening its doors to me," she said.