{"id":5285,"date":"2024-01-22T09:01:47","date_gmt":"2024-01-22T14:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/human-rights-institute\/?page_id=5285"},"modified":"2025-05-12T11:07:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T15:07:54","slug":"tatiana-londono-camargo","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/human-rights-institute\/careers\/hoyas-in-human-rights\/tatiana-londono-camargo\/","title":{"rendered":"Tatiana Londo\u00f1o Camargo: Guiding Corporations to Human Rights Compliance"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the Shadows of Armed Conflict to a Career in Human Rights Consulting<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tatiana grew up under the shadow of armed conflict. Since 1964, Colombia has endured a civil war \"\"between the Colombian state forces and guerilla groups such as the <\/span>Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (<\/span>FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). A peace agreement with FARC was signed in 2016, but negotiations with ELN and other groups remain ongoing. Tatiana\u2019s father was almost a victim of attacks by the guerilla fighters; as a Minister of Interior and Justice, he had a bomb placed under his car, which killed two of his bodyguards. Wanting to make a difference herself, Tatiana found employment with the Ministry of Defense working on international humanitarian law, human rights, and \u201ceverything to do with the armed conflict from a legal perspective.\u201d After transitioning to the National Senate, where she was a staffer for Senator Marta Lucia Ramirez de Rincon on issues relating to the work of the Committee for International Relations and Defense, Tatiana got her master\u2019s degree from the National War College and then pursued her LL.M. at Georgetown, focusing on human rights, international humanitarian law, and armed conflict.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Upon returning to Colombia, she worked for the Inspector General\u2019s Office as the Inspector General Delegate for Human Rights and Ethnic Affairs, supervising the human rights performance of the Colombian state, including activity in the army, intelligence community, prisons, and ethnic communities. While in this role, Tatiana also helped the government form and execute its National Action Plan in Business and Human Rights, the first in the Western hemisphere. This project sparked Tatiana\u2019s interest in business and human rights, and she decided to build a consulting service around the issue. \u201cIt was quite a challenge because that was 2017 and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights came out in 2011, so there wasn\u2019t much to go on to build a consulting service,\u201d Tatiana remarks. \u201cI had to build everything from the documents that were available up.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through LH Law & Consulting<\/a>, she consults on business and human rights issues with multinational companies in Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Switzerland, and the United States, among others. She advises companies on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct, and the new European Union Due Diligence Guidelines according to the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and legal issues related to corporate human rights performance. She is also the developer of Humane Biz, a platform designed to \u201cprovide Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with human rights due diligence advisory services and consulting\u201d based on the UN Guiding Principles and the OECD Guidelines.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tatiana says that her career \u201chappened thanks to Georgetown.\u201d Georgetown, she says, gave her an education in fields uncommon in Colombia in an academically challenging environment. \u201cFor the thirteen years since I came back from Georgetown, I have taught international humanitarian law, human rights, international law, use of force, and now business and human rights, but I am one of the only practitioners here in the country that has knowledge of some of those areas,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even during Colombia\u2019s peace process, which she participated in through the Inspector General\u2019s Office, Tatiana found that \u201cthere was a lot of ignorance on what international law actually said.\u201d She played a significant role in the analysis of international law during the negotiations, including by advising the Constitutional Court \u2013 Colombia\u2019s highest court on issues related to its Constitution \u2013 on whether a total amnesty would be permissible for the guerilla fighters, preventing any prosecution for their activities. \u201cI believe that Georgetown was what made me be able to come back to Colombia and really help in all areas of human rights, from the armed conflict to the performance of the state, and now to help companies uphold their human rights obligations.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Helping Companies Respect Human Rights in Complex Environments<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tatiana finds that the most satisfying part of her job is the ability to help companies respect human rights. \u201cThis is an area that is a win-win for everybody. It helps the companies to adequately manage their legal and reputational risks and adverse impacts related to human rights, but in the process of complying, they help guarantee the human rights of their stakeholders, especially vulnerable populations, so it actually benefits everyone, including victims of human rights violations,\u201d Tatiana explains. In addition, her Humane Biz project, which \u201cempowers SMEs to create their own due diligence processes according to international standards,\u201d will help both companies and local communities. Serving SMEs is particularly important in Colombia because they constitute, at Tatiana\u2019s estimate, 95% of companies in the state, and \u201cit is usually SMEs rather than big companies\u201d where you find examples of violations like child labor, Tatiana says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Tatiana has also encountered difficulties in bringing human rights principles into reality when working with companies. \u201cHuman rights is pretty straightforward on paper. But when you start working with companies, you see that there are very different viewpoints from the company, from the communities, from environmental areas. And when the rights of one clash with another\u2019s rights, that\u2019s when the real challenge begins,\u201d Tatiana explains. One example, she says, is where a local community blockaded a road to a company because they objected to the company\u2019s consulting process with the government. The blockade became violent, resulted in the kidnapping of some of the companies\u2019 workers, and prevented food and medicine deliveries to the population living near the company. The dispute highlighted the conflict between the right to peaceful protest and the rights of those who were kidnapped and those who needed food and medicine. While human rights may appear straightforward and logical at first glance, \u201cputting it into practice, you\u2019ll run into those types of situations where things aren\u2019t clear,\u201d she says. \u201cObviously we all want human rights to be upheld 100%\u201d of the time, \u201cbut we have to look at the full picture sometimes.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most important skills for a human rights lawyer, Tatiana says, is to \u201cbe able to keep an open mind.\u201d In her experience, many human rights practitioners go into countries \u201cwith a fixed academic point of view\u201d and give advice based on theory without analyzing the local situation. Instead, flexibility is important. Though difficult, since one is always \u201ca little bit biased from your training or your background,\u201d she advises students to keep an open mind, get the full picture by listening to different perspectives, and then make up their own minds, in order to make a correct assessment.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Importance of Self-Care and Finding Joy<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dealing with human rights violations on a regular basis can be psychologically taxing, especially when one is in frequent contact with the victims. \u201cYou\u2019re dealing with victims of massacres, of forced disappearances, of really heavy stuff,\u201d Tatiana explains. She advises that incoming practitioners should avoid getting too emotionally involved to protect themselves from the mental toll of the work. In addition, activities outside of work are crucial. Tatiana herself finds joy in reading. \u201cMy husband is a TV and movie producer, but I never watch TV because I\u2019m always reading. My kids are like, \u2018You\u2019re relaxing by reading Shakespeare?\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018Yeah!\u2019 So that is one of the happiest things I do.\u201d She also enjoys spending time with her children.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By Sabrina Lourie (author) and Michelle Liu (editor)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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