Join me as I speak truth to power

My name is Gilberto Torres and I am fighting a legal case before the UK High Court in order to end the impunity of British oil companies’ actions abroad.

Me and my family have had our lives destroyed because I tried to take a stand when I saw human rights and environmental abuses being committed to protect the interests of BP in Colombia, where I worked as an engineer. I was kidnapped and tortured in retribution, and now we’ve been forced to leave Colombia and live in exile. Help us get our lives back, and help expose in court the human rights violations committed by fossil fuel companies abroad.

See the Guardian film about my case

My case

I worked from 7 August 1989 as an engineer for Ecopetrol in Colombia. In 1991 I was elected to join the workers’ union, Union Sindical Obrera (USO). I saw so many things that were devastating. A colleague in the oil union disappeared, presumed murdered. BP was funding a brigade of Colombian soldiers which had a presence at the very oil pumping station where we worked. I spoke up.

I spoke up because I hoped BP would take responsibility for what was being done to protect their interests in Colombia. That was in December 2001. What I have been through as a result is beyond words. On 24 February 2002 I was kidnapped on my way back home after work. I was tortured. I was told, to torture me, that my wife and son had also been captured. I was 38 years old at the time.

I don’t know why I was released- maybe due to international pressure. My return was negotiated on 7 April 2002. But I had to flee Colombia. I now live in exile. My marriage has broken down under the strain so I live apart from my wife and my main contact with my son is by WhatsApp.

ICRC meeting me on my release

Four paramilitaries were tried and convicted in Colombia for my kidnapping. A USO trade union leader, Hernando Hernandez stated in evidence that “OCENSA ordered the kidnap” due to the First Claimant’s role in stopping the oil pipelines in labour disputes.

They claimed during their trial that the crime was ordered and assisted by Ocensa, a joint venture pipeline company previously part-owned and operated by BP. The judge said that multinationals were involved in ordering the kidnapping.

What I'm raising money to do

My UK lawyers Deighton Pierce Glynn (DPG) are taking my case on a conditional basis – so I don’t pay them anything unless we win. They are bearing most of the costs and the risks of taking this case. But they can’t cover everything. I am trying to raise at least £5,000 in order to be able to pay for the court fees, translation of documents, a Colombian legal expert and take my case to the next stage in the UK courts.

BP or its subsidiaries have a responsibility – they were connected to the training and financing of the local Colombian army brigade for many years. I believe the army worked in conjunction with the paramilitaries who kidnapped me.

My treatment and the fear caused by kidnapping and other human rights abuses against me and others campaigning against BP in Colombia has suppressed opposition to BP and its subsidiaries. This should not be allowed to happen.

Why you should support me

I am not the only person affected by what happened. In Casanare since the oil companies came, every time a community activist or trade union member stood up in Casanare to challenge human rights abuses or damage to the environment, they were threatened, attacked and in hundreds of cases murdered. I hold the multinationals responsible for this.

About the claimant

My name is Gilberto Torres. I suffered enormously for speaking out against human rights abuses and now I'm trying to hold the companies involved to account.

Fast facts

## Stand up for human rights ### Name of case: Torres v BP plc and others ### What's at stake? Astonishing human rights abuses were, and are, being perpetrated by powerful oil companies. I'm trying to hold them to account. ### What's the next step? We just got permission last week (on 13 May) from the High Court to serve the claim form on OCENSA in Colombia, the company set up by BP to develop the oil pipeline in Casanare. A BP company has a shareholding in OCENSA. We have to file the next big document in the case, the particulars of claim, which set out the details of my case, on 14 June 2015. ### Read more in the Guardian The [Guardian covered my case](http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/22/colombian-takes-bp-to-court-in-uk-alleged-complicity-kidnap-and-torture) on 22 May 2015.