Twenty one years on from the Segovia massacre in Antioquia,
survivors gathered in Medellin to remember the 43 civilians gunned down
by paramilitaries. Those responsible remain unpunished.
The massacre, which occurred in the evening of November 11, 1988,
was one of the first massacres committed by paramilitaries at the end
of the 1980’s. Paramilitary group ‘Death to North-eastern
Revolutionaries’ (MRD) entered the town of 20,000 and committed the
massacre in a bid to sow terror and demonstrate its power in the
region, Verdad Abierta reported.
Days before the massacre the town had been flooded with MRD
pamphlets threatening the lives of local social and political leaders. Such a practice is still carried out by paramilitary groups around Colombia.
Survivor Luz Marina Restrepo Cardenas lost her father and two
brothers in the massacre. She told Verdad Abierta that she remembers
“rivers of blood running through the streets” when it began to rain
post massacre.
Restrepo attended the Mass held at the Museum of Antioquia last
Wednesday to commemorate those murdered in the massacre. The Mass
Memorial was one of several activities organized by the Historical
Memory Group of the National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation (CNRR).
Verdad Abierta states that little has been done to bring those
responsible to justice. Impunity is aggravated by the fact that human
rights organizations in the region believe that it is almost impossible
to gather evidence so long after the fact. Moreover paramilitary groups
remain active in the area.
Investigator for the Historical Memory Group of the CNRR Andres
Suarez recognizes the immense task it will take to bring the culprits
to justice.
However “we consider it is important to return to the past and
recover this theme because memory is directly linked with
democratization and where there has been this type of extermination, we
can not aspire to a democratic future if past events are not recognized
and resolved,” Suarez said.
To bring justice is the role of the CNRR.
The Segovia massacre falls outside the authority of the International Criminal Court (ICC) –recently given new jurisdiction in Colombia – as it can only try cases in Colombia that occurred from 2007 onwards.
Traducido por Colombia Reports
