JEP holds follow-up hearing for enforced disappearance in Caldas

In order to guarantee the right to full reparation for the relatives of victims of enforced disappearance in the department of Caldas, the Section for the Absence of Recognition of Truth of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) held a follow-up hearing on the precautionary measures for this crime.

The public diligence was carried out in the district of La Dorada and the objective was to identify situations of risk on points of forensic interest that have not been the object of intervention by the Integral System for Peace and also, to dignify the memory of those who are looking for their missing loved ones.

The peace jurisdiction, in September 2021, had extended protection measures in six Caldensian cemeteries. Among them were San Agustín and San Diego, located in Samana. In these holy camps, the bodies of Francisco Javier Buitrago Quiceno, Pedro Pablo Molano Quiceno and Salomón Galvis, the three victims of this crime more than 15 years ago during the armed conflict in Colombia, were recovered.

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In the same municipality, the Unit for the Search for Persons Disappeared (UBPD) and the JEP, will make the dignified deliveries of the bodies that were identified thanks to the JEP's precautionary measures. The restorative follow-up hearing was attended by representatives of social organizations, victims and family members seeking Magdalena Caldense, municipal representatives and officials of state entities.

In his speech, the representative of Samaná, Cesar Augusto Salazar Buitrago, compared the figures of the Victims Unit and those handled by the municipal secretaries. According to the official, the national entity has a record of 171 direct victims of enforced disappearance in that municipality and 615 indirect ones. Meanwhile, in his office his figures are: 10 direct victims and 40 indirect victims. “We continue to work so that we can bridge the data gap we have,” he said.

For her part, the judge of the JEP, María del Pilar Valencia, said that the first steps are being taken to redress the victims of these cases in the context of the armed conflict. For that reason, he stressed the importance of implementing and ensuring the effectiveness of restorative programs. “To find the truth, we are missing a piece and those are the victims.”

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In her speech, the magistrate also stressed that despite being in the peace process with the former FARC guerrillas, this victimizing event continues to occur throughout the country, as a result of the different armed conflicts involving various illegal groups.

The Search Unit has built an initial universe of 99,235 people who were reported missing as a result of the armed conflict. The Regional Search Plan for Magdalena Caldense addresses an initial number of 1,091 missing persons in the municipalities of Samana, Norcasia, Victoria and La Dorada, in the period from 1965 to 2014.

For the JEP, dialogue with victims and the organizations that represent them such as Movice, Fundecos, Cedat and Equitas has been essential for the authorities as a whole to meet their obligations. Hence, the Unit for the Search for Persons Disappeared (UBPD), the Victims Unit, Legal Medicine, the Prosecutor's Office, and the mayors and personerias of Victoria, Samana, La Dorada and Norcasia were invited to the hearing.

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