The Land Restitution Unit came to Curvaradó to collect key information in the cases of territorial rights of the Chicao Community Council and the Mamey Dipurdú Indigenous Reservation.
The Apartadó territorial directorate of the Land Restitution Unit initiated ex officio the processes of restitution of collective territorial rights of the communities of the Mamey Dipurdú Indigenous Reservation and the Chicao Community Council, which have 186 families. The decision was made after learning about the events that have marked and changed the dynamics of life in these communities of Carmen del Darién.
In that territory, the socialization of Decree Laws 4633 and 4635 of 2011 was carried out. The first on restitution processes in indigenous reservations and the second on community councils. During the event, the communities learned first-hand of the accompaniment provided by the institutional framework with the current legal norms and with the team of lawyers from the Land Restitution Unit.
In the Mamey Dipurdú Indigenous Reserve, progress was made with the collection of the timeline of the different victimizing acts to which they were subjected by the illegal armed groups, including confinement. This information is part of the burden of proof to support the demands for restitution of collective rights of the 28 families, 69 women and 47 men, that make up the community and that the Apartadó Territorial Directorate is carrying out.
And in the Chicao Community Council, progress was made with the construction of methodological agreements to define the types of evidence that the entity will collect with the members of the community to collect and present it to the courts. Chicao, is made up of 158 families, 279 women and 247 men, who suffered the abandonment and confinement of the territory since 1997 with the first paramilitary incursion.
The territorial director of the URT Apartadó, Nervelia Avilés, explained: “As an institution, in the case of ethnic communities, the Law calls on us to initiate cases through ex officio to be able to accompany the communities throughout the administrative stage , as long as they accept the decision. Generally, they give us that vote of confidence that allows us to bring their cases to justice.”
Currently, the Apartadó Territorial Directorate has 13 cases in the administrative stage and 23 in the judicial headquarters of the collective route.