:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/JUH43H76NBB2VM3EOO3EHARIGI.jpg "51 bodies of missing persons have been found by Caesar’s search unit")
By a statement dated March 1, the Search Unit for Disappeared Persons (Ubpd) reported that it is making progress in the investigation, prospecting and recovery of victims of this crime who may be found in the El Copey Alternative Cemetery in Caesar’s department.
The JEP has acknowledged 135 murders and enforced disappearances perpetrated by soldiers of the La Popa Battalion against indigenous people in the Sierra Nevada
They accused them of being informants or working with groups outside the law
These actions began in 2020, in coordination with the Investigation and Prosecution Unit of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), concerning support for the precautionary measures issued by the justice of the peace, for the protection of three lots of this cemetery.
According to what has been reported, so far, during the four phases of intervention, the Ubpd forensic teams have carried out 51 body recoveriesafter an exploration in 62 landfills, on approximately 15,000 square meters of land, with the participation of victims and local institutions.
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The director(s) of the UbpdClaudia Isabel Niño Izquierdo revealed that:
“The Unit assessed and determined that the property was declared a place of forensic interest in July 2020, when the world saw the images of how the bony structures were exposed in this cemetery when an excavation took place. been carried out for the construction of graves, where burials to deal with the emergency due to the covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
These humanitarian actions were accompanied by the JEP, the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Sciences, as well as the Attorney General’s Office, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of El Copey.
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In another of her statements, the director in charge of the entity born from the Peace agreement denounced “possible people extrajudicially executed who rested in the cemetery of El Copey”, and therefore, requested the issuance of precautionary measures to the Special jurisdiction for peace.
With regard to the role played by the families of the victims and the social organizations in the search for people, Claudia Isabel Niño Izquierdo stressed that they have been essential to advance in the search for missing persons “In the reason and context of the internal armed conflict, For this reason, I emphasize the presence of relatives in the development of humanitarian and extrajudicial actions in the property of the alternative cemetery El Copey,” said the official.
El Cesar is one of the nine departments in which 60% of the enforced disappearances registered in Colombia, during the armed conflict.
The entity has identified an initial universe of 1,107 people reported missing in César. In his work, for the period 2023 to 2030, he prioritized six municipalities: Valledupar, La Paz, Manaure, Pueblo Bello and San Diego, which are part of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta subregion.
Some cases are those of Óscar Alexander Morales Tejada, Octavio Bilbao Becerra and Germán Leal Pérez, who were allegedly murdered by soldiers of the No. 2 La Popa de Valledupar Artillery Battalion. Note that in July 2022, the Research Unit recovered 18 bodies of missing persons as part of the armed conflict between 1996 and 2022 in El Copey.
In this department, 1,278 war actions have also been documented, 9,176 selective murders and 524 cases of sexual violence, 1,318 massacres. It has been identified that between 1999 and 2005 was the most violent period in this region of the country, where there was an increase in acts of violence.
In another of the highlights of the press release from the Ubpd It can be emphasized that from Wednesday March 1, as an act of dignity of the research undertaken by the relatives, and in order to promote social awareness of their role, a symbolic action will be carried out with a Eucharist at the cemetery.