In a country where criminal justice coexists daily with structural challenges and deep social tensions, the professional trajectory of Mabel Wilberma Sánchez Toloza is beginning to attract the attention of journalists and researchers who closely follow the evolution of the Latin American judicial system, not because of grand gestures or media appearances but because of the combination of technical experience, discretion and consistency accumulated during more than 22 years of work as a prosecutor, judge and specialist in victim protection in regions marked by vulnerabilities that rarely reach international headlines.
Mabel’s career developed within the Attorney General’s Office of Colombia, where she took on duties ranging from conducting preliminary hearings and requests for intramural preventive detention to the conclusion of complex criminal actions with conviction sentences related to homicides, domestic violence, drug trafficking and personal injuries, among others. Colleagues who worked with her recall that her name always came up when someone capable of handling sensitive investigations was needed without losing technical rigor or sensitivity and protection of victims’ rights, a trait that became a distinctive mark over the years, earning recognition from SIJIN, DIJIN and Interpol, municipal mayors’ offices and incentives granted by her immediate supervisor, among others.
Her tenure as a municipal criminal judge reinforces that perception, as it was in that position that she resolved legal situations, issued security measures, authorized searches, evaluated the legality of proceedings, and conducted trials and handed down conviction sentences that directly impacted the communities’ trust in the justice system. Those who accompanied her work report that Mabel maintained the same stance of legality, professionalism, experience and sense of belonging to the institution, even in tense cases, a behavior that consolidated her image as a reliable professional in environments where pressure is usually constant.
A significant part of her career is linked to the protection of children and adolescents who are victims of crime, an area in which she worked collaboratively with interdisciplinary teams from the family commissioners’ offices and the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF). In this same context, Mabel Sánchez worked jointly with Colombian immigration offices in order to obtain full identification of foreign nationals captured for committing crimes in Colombian territory and who had to be prosecuted, strengthening verification, traceability and information-crossing processes in complex criminal investigations. She was part of working groups with prosecutors in the department of Boyacá and faced cases of sexual abuse, and although these issues rarely gain prominence in the media, international specialists point out that professionals with direct experience at the intersection of human rights, criminal investigation and public policy are increasingly sought after in global debates.
What surprises many external observers is the variety of practical training that Mabel accumulated throughout her career. In addition to traditional legal specializations, she completed the Basic Prosecutors Course, the Intensive Judicial Police Course in cooperation with international organizations, training in motor vehicles, full training in document management in the SIJUF and SPOA systems, as well as an uncommon experience for professionals in her field, during which she spent a day training as a soldier on military bases, an experience that broadened her understanding of field procedures and the routine of the teams that operate in the most demanding areas of the justice system.
In the field of high-impact crimes, her work alongside SIJIN, DIJIN, SIPOL, INTERPOL and CTI resulted in investigations that led to the dismantling of criminal structures and to the obtaining of significant convictions. This performance earned her recognition from municipal governments and police units, although Mabel rarely speaks of awards or honors, something that, according to colleagues, is due both to her personal discretion and to the risks inherent in the role, an aspect that often draws the attention of international analysts familiar with the context of Colombian public security.
The growing interest in her trajectory outside Colombia seems to arise precisely from this unusual combination of solid technical performance, broad training, direct work with vulnerable populations and an ethical stance that has remained consistent for more than two decades. Foreign journalists who investigate Latin American justice models have cited her name as an example of a professional who brings together real experience, institutional commitment and the protection of victims’ fundamental rights and the situations they face, qualities that often do not appear in official reports but become evident when someone takes the time to observe what truly happens inside the system.
Today, Mabel continues applying the same legal techniques and procedures with the same discretion that has always marked her career, and when she is asked why she maintains such constant dedication to the justice system, she usually responds simply that “the law only works when it manages to reach those who need it most,” a phrase that summarizes not only her professional stance but also the reason why international journalists are beginning to look at her story as a possible portrait of the complexity and resilience that characterize contemporary Latin American justice.
By: Fernando David
Journalistic supervision approved by Radija Matos
