The tragic story that has been told, over and over again, as a consequence of the brutal act of violence perpetrated in Bojaya, Choco, a terrifying May 2. Unfortunately, the municipality has not become a sanctuary of peace or anything like it. On the contrary, the upsurge in violence is no stranger to the racking of the region.
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace has made special monitoring of life in Bojayá. The findings could not be more discouraging. Twenty years after the explosion that left everything silent, multiple complaints of human rights violations continue to be evidenced.
Death threats, extortion, homicides, recruitment of minors, disappearances, mobility restrictions are some of these problems.
One would think that the search for total peace and its message throughout the country should silence the roar of the rifles and the echoes of the grenades, but that is just an illusion that is perpetuated like the songs of the residents who come to life, over and over again. again, the memory turned into a nightmare that they do not want to repeat.
Regarding the current situation in the territory, the institutions and organizations that accompany and support the victims and communities urge the protection of the lives of the inhabitants of this area through: the integral presence of the State, collective reparation, full implementation of the Peace Agreement –particularly the ethnic chapter-; the guarantee of the economic, social and cultural rights of the population; the search for the disappeared persons due to the armed conflict, as well as for events subsequent to the signing of the Peace Agreement; and the dismantling of non-state armed groups.
On the trail of resilience
Going after a historical vision of what happened on May 2, 2002 -an event that left more than 102 dead (among them children, women and the elderly), after a confrontation between paramilitary and guerrilla groups- implies understanding the voices of the victims of the survivors.
The clues, to a large extent, were in Bellavista, belonging to the priest Antún Ramos. The temple in which hundreds of settlers sought refuge. This is how IHL establishes it, but there was no moral shielding
“At that time, Bojayá was a municipality that lacked basic services and it was difficult to live. Despite that, the people were happy, but the events of May 2 and the displacement took away our joy,” said the priest.