President of the Colombian Constitutional Court Humberto Sierra Porto was elected Tuesday to be a judge for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Sierra Porto’s candidacy was presented by Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin and he was formally selected at the General Assembly of the Organization of American States, held in Cochabamba, Bolivia from June 3-5.
“Humberto Sierra Porto, great jurist, was elected to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights,” said President Juan Manuel Santos on his Twitter account.
Sierra Porto beat out candidates from Brazil, Jamaica, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Sierra Porto has a reputation for independence, as evidenced by the negative paper he presented when former President Alvaro Uribe tried to amend the constitution to be reelected for a third term.
Sierra Porto currently teaches law at the Externado University of Colombia and will end his term as judge of the Constitutional Court in September.