The JEP magistrate, Raúl Sánchez from Huila, speaks with LA NACIÓN and questions the lack of “results” to protect the peace signatories. He warns that the problem is “quite critical.” He also talks about the missing and says that the families are “very upset” with the Parroquia La Inmaculada de Neiva.
Jesus Antonio Rojas Serrano
Huila was recently the scene of two hearings of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, JEP, one of them related to the follow-up to the precautionary measures on the Central Cemetery of Neiva to protect the remains that could correspond to victims of forced disappearance, and the other, also a follow-up on the measures to protect the FARC guerrillas who signed the peace agreement in 2016. Raúl Sánchez, a JEP magistrate from Huila, led and participated in both days. Here are his impressions in this dialogue with LA NACIÓN.
What did the follow-up hearing leave behind the precautionary measures ordered by the JEP on the Central Cemetery of Neiva to protect the remains that could correspond to victims of forced disappearance?
The first thing one observes is that there is a joint work of all public entities: Legal Medicine, the Search Unit for Persons Reported Missing and the Mayor’s Office of Neiva; that the victims are absolutely attentive and waiting to search for the remains of their missing relatives.
But has enough been done by entities such as the Mayor’s Office of Neiva and the Institute of Legal Medicine to guarantee the preservation of the remains?
In fact, since this joint work exists, progress is already being seen because as we said in the hearing, we already hope in a short time, I believe that, in 15 days, with the favor of God, we will precisely identify the first person’s body. given up for missing. This, I insist, is due to joint work.
Faced with these precautionary measures, what has been the commitment of the Parish of the Immaculate Conception, which has managed the Central Cemetery since 1883?
The commitment basically lies with the parish, they have the administration. You have been asked for a series of information in order to move forward with the judicial process, to give a light of hope to the families, what has happened? What one observes is that the responses that have been issued so far, do not They leave the victims satisfied. The victims are very upset, they have let us know. The role of the JEP is precisely to serve the victims as a central principle of this transitional justice, and there is a critical issue that has been exposed by two families, specifically speaking, and that is that they are victims of ‘false positives’, murdered and disappeared; These people appear in the Central Cemetery and then the parish, in its capacity as administrator, moves them from the place where they were and they disappear again. So, there is a re-victimization of the victims’ relatives.
Why were you upset with the absence of the parish priest at the follow-up hearing?
What happened is that the victims have expressed their pain, which is understandable, their discomfort and therefore the concern of the magistrate arises and this is aggravated by the fact that the lawyer who represented the parish decided to simply leave. . He attends for a short time and then disappears, when the duties of the lawyers are all due to professional ethics, on behalf of their client, what they indicate is that they have to attend to judicial requirements. Then, he left the hearing when his judicial duty and his client’s duty was to remain there; Second, he leaves without informing the judiciary, which generates a lack of respect, finally, with the audience, with the victims, with the national and local law enforcement officials who attend said procedure.
To put readers in context, what does the JEP hope to find in Monument 14, the ossuary and common grave of the Neiva Central Cemetery?
We want to fully identify the people reported missing; We hope to hand over the relatives of these people who are victims of the armed conflict, who are there in the cemetery and obviously continue exploring the points of forensic interest that the Search Unit for Persons Reported as Missing has told us.
One of the emblematic cases of disappearance in Neiva is that of Tarcisio Medina Charry, what are the chances that his remains are in the Central Cemetery?
Before Tarsicio Medina, we are doing all the work. We have contacted Migration Colombia to look at the records of entry and exit from the country, we have contacted the National Registry of Civil Status to find out if his ID is valid, if, on the contrary, he has died. In the first case there is no record of entry or exit, in the second case we are informed that it is valid; Third, to talk about whether they are there or not, we really don’t know, it’s time to search, search, search!, which is the job.
What is the outlook for the other cemeteries over which the JEP has decreed precautionary measures regarding the possibility of finding remains of victims of disappearance?
What we have been observing is that in the cemeteries there are definitely people missing in the armed conflict. We have found with great surprise the poor management of the cemeteries, obviously, not in bad faith or anything like that, but simply the dynamic itself is to receive the body, bury it and that’s it, that is, that is the logical thing: bury it here, there, moving it from a tomb to an ossuary, the dynamics of handling death. What we have found are several things, one, that there are victims of the armed conflict buried in the country’s cemeteries; two, there are victims of forced disappearance buried in cemeteries; Three, there are very clear examples such as the case of Dabeiba, Antioquia, where it has easily been possible to hand over 30, 40 or 50 missing people due to ‘false positives’. In Cúcuta, we could easily talk about a thousand bodies, a thousand missing people or victims of the armed conflict in the Cúcuta cemetery, which I believe is the largest discovery that has been made in the country. In the Villavicencio cemetery we have already been able to deliver 17 bodies of people considered missing, that is, in the end what we are doing is decreeing precautionary measures to protect the sites and to help the searchers of their loved ones. And as someone said: Colombia is a mass grave.
You who have been able to speak with the relatives of many disappeared people, what do you see in them?
I believe that the crime of forced disappearance can be the most atrocious crimes, if not the most atrocious. Because you never have peace, you never have peace, there is never definitive closure and you never begin. There is a lot of sadness, a lot of pain and what you see is that years and years go by and they look for them, they don’t stop looking for them. Sadly, what one observes is reality, many times they die without knowing what happened to their loved ones. This is a very regrettable situation and that is why the JEP is committed to all the victims of the armed conflict.
On the other hand, you were also in Pitalito at the hearing to follow up on the measures to protect the peace signatories. What is the big conclusion that you left that day?
What I see is that everyone tries to do something, but in the end the results are not being seen. I believe that the departmental and municipal authorities are absolutely alone, I do not see the support of the national order, as would be desired.
In your opinion, what does this figure of 415 former FARC combatants murdered since the signing of the peace agreement represent?
Having 415 ex-combatants sign the peace agreement is really a serious breach on the part of the Colombian State, the previous government, this government, because it is precisely the duty of governments to guarantee the lives of all Colombians and in this case of the signatories of the peace agreement.
Is there anyone interested in not guaranteeing the life and integrity of those who laid down their weapons?
At the hearing they pointed out that 70% of the murders of peace signatories come from residual groups, from dissidents, which is quite critical. Where they are or are present, according to the JEP Investigation and Prosecution Unit in its report, is where the most deaths occur.
Speaking of the FARC, I take this opportunity to ask you about the noise caused by the ‘darts’ of the former commanders of that guerrilla against the JEP, what do you think?
The JEP is doing its job, without a doubt; Its constitutional and legal mission is to call both the members of the public force and the former members of the former FARC guerrilla to account, it is the job. We have the macro cases, we have made a series of accusations. We have called for voluntary versions. Truth is being provided. Those who do not collaborate in the process of truth, justice and reparation, those who have failed to comply with the peace agreement, are being excluded. The JEP is fulfilling its mandate. We are working hand in hand with the victims. We have 11 open macro cases; You will find them there on the JEP website; The first is kidnapping; The eleventh, which is the last, is sexual violence. We are handling all cases, false positives, territorial situations, murders, displacements and attacks against members of the Patriotic Union, sexual violence, recruitments. In short, all the behaviors committed by the actors of the armed conflict.
As a Huila native, what has it meant to be a judge of the JEP?
I believe that personally and professionally we are doing our bit, we are helping, without a doubt, in reconciliation, in the healing of the country. I believe that we owe it to the victims, we owe it to the truth, to justice, to reparation, as we have been doing and this is seen in various scenarios. One, through the dignified deliveries of missing persons that we are making; Two, we are protecting the lives of the signatories of the peace agreement despite their rejection of the JEP. The only judicial entity that has been concerned about them along with the Constitutional Court has been us, so there is also a clear commitment not only for the victims but also for the demobilized; Third, we are truly supporting reconciliation processes, which are so important for victims. I think it has been very important.
What are the scope of order 01 of 2023 of the JEP, whose presentation was recently recognized for its great legal quality and impact on national and international law?
Car 01, which we released the previous year, was and has been of great impact to the extent that, first of all, it was the first car in which middle managers were charged; second, where situations of territories or regions are imputed; third, where we talk for the first time about the effects of violence on ethnic-racial peoples, which has also been key; fourth, we have spoken for the first time in Colombia about environmental crimes, something that had never been done before in territorial situations or what was happening in the territories; fifth, we have also talked about members of the public force as victims of the armed conflict, that is also new because here we only believe that the civilian population were victims, but what we have seen is that members of the public force are victims to the extent that they are violated the norms of International Humanitarian Law; Finally, we make an accusation against war crimes, crimes against humanity, which reflects everything that happened precisely in the Colombian territories, where the victims have suffered to a greater extent.
