With the Colombian peace process back on track, family members of 29 of the disappeared from the more than half-century long civil war received remains of their loved ones in central Colombian city of Villavicencio Thursday (December 17).
The ceremony comes two days after representatives of the Colombian government and leftist FARC rebels signed an agreement on reparations for war victims and the establishment of special tribunals to try former combatants once the two sides reach a definitive peace pact.
The signing ceremony in Havana has restored the peace talks en route to reaching a March 23 deadline for a comprehensive plan to end Latin America’s longest war,
which has killed 220,000 people and displaced millions since 1964.
Some 200 loved ones were in the Colombian department of Meta, a former rebel-held area, to receive the remains in a sombre ecumenical ceremony. They traveled from all over the country, and some hadn’t heard news of their loved ones in over a decade.
The victims lost their life at the hands of both rebels and backers of the government.
Candles were lit alongside photos and brown tombs to honor the missing.
Representing the Colombian government at the ceremony, Paula Gaviria, the director of the State Victims Unit, hoped for a Colombia that doesn’t repeat its dark past.
“That under no circumstances should it be tolerated that these crimes are committed in this country. Twenty-nine families have come this week. Twenty-nine families tell us of the suffering that has been shared,” she said.
The plan to return victims’ remains was agreed on in October. The final peace plan will also seek justice for the victims, as well. (Reuters)
