War crimes tribunal finds human remains at "Colombia's largest open-pit mass grave"

[Judi Lynn]

Victims relieved after decades-long struggle for justice
by Adriaan Alsema December 26, 2024

War crimes tribunal finds human remains at “Colombia’s largest open-pit mass grave”
Victims relieved after decades-long struggle for justice

by Adriaan Alsema December 26, 2024


Colombia’s war crimes tribunal JEP announced that forensic experts found human remans in a waste dump in the west of Medellin.

The exhumation of at least two victims of forced displacement was celebrated by family members of missing persons who have been urging to search for their loved ones in La Escombrera.

Residents of Medellin’s 13th District began calling for a search in the waste dump in 2002 when testimonies emerged about the dumping of bodies at La Escombrera.

The mayor at the time, Luis Perez, rejected the calls for action, claiming that “Medellin was fixed when Operation Orion happened.”

. . .

Local authorities and the company that manages the waste dump have been cooperating with the JEP since 2019 when the war crimes tribunal ordered them to stop dumping waste on top of what is widely believed Colombia’s largest mass grave.

More:
https://colombiareports.com/war-crimes-tribunal-finds-human-remains-at-colombias-largest-open-pit-mass-grave/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Old, hideous problem connected to Colombian paramilitary death squads.

Earlier information:

Mass grave threatens Uribe’s legacy
Residents say La Macarena site contains hundreds of people killed by military.

7 Aug 2010

Deep in the jungles of Colombia, a recently discovered mass grave is casting a shadow over the legacy of Alvaro Uribe, the country’s outgoing president.

People in La Macarena say the military is responsible for the bodies buried there – up to 2,000 of them, according to human rights groups.

The Colombian military has been accused previously of killing thousands of poor young men and women to increase their body count during the conflict with the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo reports.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/8/7/mass-grave-threatens-uribes-legacy