(Posted March 13, 2001)

David Wilcox, a senior at Juniata College studying Spanish and Peace Studies, will travel to Bogata, Columbia as part of a Witness for Peace delegation to observe human rights practices in the country.

Wilcox, a native of East Trenton, N.J., joined the Witness for Peace delegation in Bogata on March 11. Wilcox said the delegation will split into smaller groups to visit communities in the southern part of Columbia, where the national army has been accused of human rights violations. Wilcox is part of a 100-person delegation to Colombia.

Witness for Peace is an independent organization that has taken more than 10,000 United States citizens on observation trips to Latin America and Caribbean nations. The group has previously sent observers to war zones in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Haiti and Chiapas, Mexico.

"I would like people to be aware of the countless brave Colombians who are struggling to remain nonviolent and to build a just peace in their community," he said.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.