Iván Velásquez Gómez

Iván Velásquez Gómez was born in Medellín on 12 May 1955 and studied law at the University of Antioquia. A litigator and director of the Antioquia bar, he served as deputy prosecutor for Antioquia from 1991 to 1994, opening investigations into torture and extrajudicial executions, then as assistant magistrate of the Council of State, regional director of prosecutors in Medellín and, from 2000, auxiliary magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice.

Between 2006 and 2012 he coordinated the Supreme Court's investigative commission on the "parapolítica" — the links between members of Congress and paramilitary groups. The International Bar Association gave him its World Human Rights Prize in 2011. In September 2013 he was appointed Commissioner of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), with the rank of United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, and in 2018 he shared the Right Livelihood Award with Thelma Aldana for exposing abuse of power and prosecuting corruption.

President Gustavo Petro named him Minister of National Defence in 2022; he served from 7 August 2022 until his resignation in February 2025 and was confirmed as Colombia's ambassador to the Holy See and the Order of Malta in May 2025. In June 2025 a Guatemalan appeals court ordered his arrest over his CICIG role.

How the name is written

Colombian form Velásquez, and both surnames — Velásquez Gómez — as Colombian public life prefers.

Sources

Facts in this profile are drawn from the Wikipedia article(s) linked below, consulted on 21 September 2026; the text is original. Wikipedia (English) · Wikipedia (Spanish)

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