Medellin´s Municipal Effective Participation Board gave the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP in its Spanish acronym) the first report on forced intra-urban displacement in Medellín. This was done to investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible for these events in Antioquia’s capital.
The event was held in the Museo Casa de la Memoria. The occasion was loaded with artistic and cultural representations’ symbolism. In this regard, Maria del Pilar Valencia, a JEP magistrate said “this report delivered by the Medellin’s Municipal Effective Participation Board has great value for the JEP because forced displacement is the most registered phenomenon. Its intra-urban displacement emphasis it’s also very important, because it will help future cases that may be opened and contain these facts.”
“It’s also quite representative due to the symbolic and healing value that such an act like the one showcased today, which was done to make victims visible and motivate other victims in the department and the whole country to be an active part in the processes and procedures,” concluded the magistrate.
Medellin’s Municipal Effective Participation Board representatives were joined by the SNARIV entities such as the Municipal Ombudsman’s Office, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Medellin’s Mayor’s Office, the Unit for the Victims, the Procurator’s Office and the Search Unit for Missing Persons.
These entities have aided the political advocacy constant and permanent exercise, as well as the documentation and training of the leaders who stand out today for pioneering by presenting this partial report to the JEP, which will end next September.
The Group’s Coordinator, Anaidalyth Delgado, said the following at the meeting’s end: “With these symbolic representations, we, the victims, manage to see ourselves reflected along with the events thar happened to us. So, through memory and remembering what happened, it is guaranteed these events do not repeat.”
Luz Elena Galeano, other Medellin’s Municipal Effective Participation Board member had a similar approach: “It is very important for us to have delivered this report which makes us visible as an organized collective. It displays our daily work in the victims’ favor and for the Human Rights defense. It also stands so Medellin’s systematic intra-urban displacement events aren´t left unpunished.”
The Unit for the Victims’ Antioquia’s Territorial Director, Wilson Cordoba, said: “The entity makes its best effort aiding the Municipal Boards, so their participation and incidence is effective. This is also done to get reparation results for the population that has been affected by the violence in some manner.”
According to the Single Victims Registry, 704,571 people declared victimizing acts in Medellin; of these, 474,537 were due to forced displacement.
End (SMC/COG/RAM)
