Staff
SCHOLARS AND CONSORTIUM SPOKEPERSONS
Justus Liebig University Giessen
Prof. Dr. Marauhn is the spokesman of the German consortium of CAPAZ. He is professor of Public Law and International Law at Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany, and head of the newly established International Law Research Group of the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. He chairs the German National Committee on International Humanitarian Law, is a member of the Advisory Board on United Nations Issues of the German Foreign Office and First Vice-President of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission. Thilo Marauhn has held visiting professorships at the Universities of Bergen, Madison (Wisconsin), Rovaniemi, Tromsø and California Western School of Law, San Diego; he holds a permanent visiting position at the University of Lucerne, Switzerland. Among the various externally funded research projects, the most recent one addresses “UN policing – legal basis, status and directives on the use of force” (German Foundation of Peace Research).
Camilo Alberto Borrero García
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Prof. Dr. Camilo Borrero is the spokesman of the Colombian consortium before CAPAZ. He studied Law at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, specialized in Family Law at the Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), finished his Graduate Studies on Sociology at the KU Leuven (Bélgica) and obtained his PhD in Law at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. He is Professor at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and works in the fields of Sociology of Law, Human Rights, Community Justice and Transitional Justice. Currently he is also coordinator of the PhD Programm in Law, and is member of the Peace Research Center “Centro de Pensamiento y Seguimiento a los Diálogos de Paz“ at the same university.
ACADEMIC STAFF
Stefan Peters
Academic Director – German-Colombian Peace Institute
Academic Director of the German-Colombian Peace Institute – CAPAZ and Chair of Peace Studies at the Justus Liebig University Giessen (Germany). He studied Political Science at the Philipps-University Marburg and Universidad Complutense de Madrid and obtained his PhD in Political Science at the University of Kassel (Germany). Stefan Peters works in the fields of Neo-Extractivism and Rentism, Social Inequalities, Education, Memory Studies, Development Theory and North South Relations. He has been visiting professor and researcher at universities in countries such as Cuba, Argentina, Ecuador and Puerto Rico.
Juliette Vargas
Scientific Collaborator – German-Colombian Peace Institute and CEDPAL – Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Juliette Vargas has a Law Degree of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and a Law Master’s Degree (LLM in German) of the Humboldt-Universität (HU) in Berlin. Her academic and professional experience has been focused on international public law, as well as international criminal law, international human rights and international humanitarian law and on topics of environment law. She has worked in strategic litigation research with organizations such as the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights – ECCHR and the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective – CCAJAR. In the last years she has been working in topics related to transitional justice and the challenge of its implementation in Colombia. Additionally, she pursued Music Studies in Colombia and Germany. Mrs. Vargas’ position is financed by the University of Göttingen. Currently, she is PhD-candidate at the Göttingen University. Her research focuses on the Victim Participation at the Special Jurisdiction for Peace.
Juliana González
Scientific Collaborator – German-Colombian Peace Institute
Juliana holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and a Master’s Degree in Political Theory from the Goethe University in Frankfurt and the Technical University in Darmstadt, with studies of Political Science at the New School for Social Research in New York City. Her main research areas are peace and conflict studies and contemporary feminist theory, and her current work focuses on memory and social inequalities. Juliana teaches political philosophy and theory at university level in Bogotá, and has experience in research and consultancy on gender and transitional justice for governmental institutions and NGO’s in Colombia. She also has experience as editor and as English and German translator of academic publications.
Milena Schellenberger
Scientific Collaborator – German-Colombian Peace Institute and CEDPAL – Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Milena Schellenberger is a research fellow and PhD-candidate at the Center for Studies on Latin American Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure (CEDPAL) at the University of Göttingen and a collaborator at the German-Colombian Peace Institute (CAPAZ) in Bogotá, Colombia. She graduated with a degree as Magistra Iuris form the University of Heidelberg. Milena Schellenberger is a researcher for the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research focusing on the conflict between indigenous groups and the Colombian government. Previously, she worked at the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law on the topics of human rights, transitional justice and law of the sea for the Southeast Asia projects.
Rosario Figari Layús
Post-doctoral Researcher – German-Colombian Peace Institute – Justus Liebig-Universität Gießen
Rosario Figari Layús works as a post-doc researcher at the Chair of Peace Studies at the Justus Liebig University of Giessen. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the Phillips University of Marburg. Previously she earned a Master degree in Social Sciences from Humboldt University of Berlin and a degree in sociology from the University of Buenos Aires. Her areas of work and research are transitional justice, human rights, and political violence. She has worked as a researcher and lecturer at various institutions including the University of Buenos Aires, the University of Heidelberg, the Philipps University of Marburg, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG) at the Bielefeld University and the University of Konstanz in Germany.
Indira Murillo
Scientific Collaborator – German-Colombian Peace Institute
Lawyer graduated from Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia (Neiva), she holds a master’s degree in international legal studies with specialization in International Human Rights Law and Gender and the Law from American University Washington College of Law, and an LL.M. from Ruprecht Karls – Universität Heidelberg. She has focused her work on human rights issues, nationality, and statelessness, international migration, gender-based violence, and promotion of gender equality. During her career, Indira Murillo has served in various position including lawyer at the Constitutional Court of Colombia, consultant for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Colombia, Human Rights Fellow at the New York City Bar Association, and Dean´s Fellow at the War Crimes Research Office at American University Washington College of Law. She has also taught international public law at two law schools in Bogotá.
Andrea Neira
Scientific Collaborator – German-Colombian Peace Institute
Ph.D. student in Anthropology at the University of Cauca, Master in Feminist and Gender Studies and Social Worker. She has been a university professor of undergraduate and postgraduate courses at several public and private universities in Colombia for more than eleven years. Andrea has also worked with the academic and administrative management of research and social projection, as well as in the Monitoring Team for Reparative and Restorative Measures (ESMRR) of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP). Currently, Andrea is the coordinator of the CLACSO Working Group «Decolonial epistemologies, territories and culture», and a researcher of the Interdisciplinary Group for Gender Studies (GIEG), of the National University of Colombia. Furthermore, she is also part of the Working Group “Masculinities in Latin America. Frictions, leaks and fissures”. Her research topics are Masculinities, militarization, armed conflict and reincorporation processes; alternative and feminist economies; Youth subjectivities, hip hop, and peace; and Post-development, and alternatives to development. In 2019, Andrea won the Jorge Bernal Award for Social Research.
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Carlos Nupia
Administrative Director – German-Colombian Peace Institute
PhD in Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin-FUB. He has worked on topics such as scientific international cooperation, international organizations, international transfer knowledge and institutional change in public policies. Teacher of public policy in science, technology and innovation (STI) and international cooperation in different Colombian universities. Carlos Nupia was researcher in the area of science policy and international relations in the Colombian Observatory of Science and Technology (OCyT, in Spanish) (2013-2017), and director of international offices in Colciencias (2000-2003 and 2007-2008) and in the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. He served as communication advisor in the former Colombian Agency for International Cooperation (today APC) and in agencies of the United Nations System such as United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and World Food Program (WFP). Currently works on the relationship between the production of scientific knowledge and peace building in Colombia.
Carolina Cerón
Administrative and Financial Coordinator – German-Colombian Peace Institute
National University of Colombia graduate majored in German Philology. With more than 5 years of professional experience on Academic and scientific International cooperation projects between Colombia and Germany, she is acquainted with the main stakeholders, decision making actors and organizations involved on the field of international higher education and scientific management on both countries.
Claudia Maya, M.A.
Coordinator Science and Education Diplomacy Project- CAPAZ-BMBF
Master of Arts in Media, Communication and Cultural Studies, University of Kassel, Germany and Stendhal University, Grenoble III, France. Claudia Maya has worked in the fields of communication and public relations, quality management systems, educational projects, culture and international cooperation, specifically in the cooperation between Colombia and German speaking countries. She has worked as a German teacher in Colombia and Switzerland, where she has been engaged in cultural projects and work integration, mostly for Spanish-speaking immigrants and refugees from conflict areas in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Lucía Alarcón
Assistant of Communication and Public Relations – German-Colombian Peace Institute
Anthropologist and journalist from the Universidad de Los Andes. She has professional experience in the communication and journalism environment, working in organizations such as La Silla Vacía, Climate Reality Latin America and different research groups at the Universidad de Los Andes. Thanks to these experiences, she acquired knowledge on issues such as production of digital content, creative dissemination of academic documents, exploration of different informational formats in which academy and publics establish an open dialogue to influence the political agenda of Colombia.
Laura Valencia Espinosa
Assistant NETCAPAZ Platform
Student of Languages and Culture and Political Science on her last semester at Universidad de los Andes, with knowledge in the areas of International Relations and Comparative Politics. She is interested on topics such as International Organizations, International Cooperation and Peace Building. She joined the German-Colombian Peace Institute (CAPAZ) in August 2021 as a Trainee in Knowledge Management.
Jair Burgos
Administrative Assistant – German-Colombian Peace Institute – Project JEP-CEV
Accountant graduated from the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University. Work experience in financial and administrative affairs acquired in socio-economic projects funded by the private sector and non-governmental organizations. Jair has developed new training methods for people who have little or no knowledge in financial and tax areas, helping them to improve manual and financial skills. He has five years of experience in budget monitoring, administrative support, financial and tax support, and two years of experience assisting natural people in filing their income tax returns.
Daniela Alzate
Community Manager – German-Colombian Peace Institute
Master in Audiovisual Creation from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Colombia), and Master in Visual Arts from the same university. Daniela has work experience in digital marketing, content creation, graphic design, and audiovisual production. For 3 years, she worked as a Social Media Manager for Teleaccion, a Contact Center Consulting and Training company in Colombia. She has also carried out parallel studies in Egyptology, Human Health and Climate Change, and Customer Experience through digital transformation.
Esteban Campo
Community Manager – German-Colombian Peace Institute
Industrial Engineering student at Universidad del Valle. He worked at AIESEC in Colombia in the areas of Organizational Development, Talent Management, and Communications. He has experience managing and creating content for social media, and he has worked with several social initiatives and organizations like Endeavor Colombia. Esteban is interested in topics such as leadership, group management, and visual arts.
TRAINEES
Valentina González Martínez
Trainee – German-Colombian Peace Institute
Law student on her last semester at Universidad de Ibagué. She is interested in topics such as the protection of vulnerable populations, human rights, constitutional law, and international humanitarian law. She has experience working as a monitor for the “Legal Assistance Program for the Population in Need of International Protection and Victims of the Armed Conflict”, led by Universidad de Ibagué’s legal aid clinic. Valentina has participated in research and projects related to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Network of Territories for Peace (Red de Territorios por la Paz).
Juan Sebastián Velandia Suárez
Trainee – German-Colombian Peace Institute – Knowledge Management
Last semester student of Industrial Engineering at Universidad de Ibagué. He took a course on project management and formulation at this same university. He has experience working on the legalization of accounting books and transportation logistics. Juan Sebastián joined the German-Colombian Peace Institute (CAPAZ) in February 2022 as a Trainee in Knowledge Management.
Laura Moncada Vargas
Trainee – German-Colombian Peace Institute – Reincorporation
Law student on her last semester at Universidad de Ibagué. She is interested in topics such as the protection of vulnerable populations, human rights, constitutional law, and international humanitarian law. She has experience working as a monitor for the “Legal Assistance Program for the Population in Need of International Protection and Victims of the Armed Conflict”, led by Universidad de Ibagué’s legal aid clinic. Valentina has participated in research and projects related to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Network of Territories for Peace (Red de Territorios por la Paz).
Nicolás Rodríguez
Trainee – German-Colombian Peace Institute – Memory and Inequalities
Student of the Conflict, Memory, and Peace master’s program at Universidad del Rosario, and Historian with emphasis on these same topics. He is interested in working on analyzing and researching issues related to the Colombian conflict, as well as the sociopolitical reality of the country. Likewise, Nicolas likes working with victims, ex-combatants, communities, and other actors who may contribute to peacebuilding in Colombia.