In Casanare, the figures for the restitution process are encouraging. In the administrative stage, a total of 1,653 applications have been authorized, of which 1,092 have completed all the necessary procedures. In the judicial stage, 184 individual lawsuits have been filed by peasants who are victims of dispossession and forced abandonment of land.
To date, 13 judgments have been issued in the municipalities of Yopal, Aguazul, Monterrey, Chámeza, Sabanalarga, Tauramena and Villanueva, for a total of 817.19 restituted hectares. In addition, there are 581 pending applications that are being evaluated and pending a substantive decision by the URT.
During the official visit, the Territorial Director of the URT Bogotá, Martha Liliana Arévalo, headed the Local Restitution Operational Committee, COLR, together with the Delegate Attorney for Land Restitution and officers with power from the National Army, the National Police and the Force Aircraft and after examining the security conditions in the area, it obtained the go-ahead to continue with the administrative process of restitution requests in the municipalities of Pore, Hato Corozal and Paz de Ariporo.
Similarly, the Territorial Directorate of the URT prioritized the strengthening of institutional alliances and held the first annual meeting to monitor court orders in collaboration with the Agustín Codazzi Geographic Institute. In total, 13 specific sentences that require the intervention of the institute were monitored. Likewise, joint coordination was established with the Ombudsman’s Office and the Casanare Governor’s Office, reviewing the actions to advance in compliance with the orders and in the execution of the Annual Operating Plan of the Restitution Table.
The institutional presence has been strengthened with the opening of the URT office in Yopal, in 2022, which has made it possible to establish greater proximity and provide quality care to the population of Casanare. This fact is evidenced in the increase in the attention and reception of new restitution requests in the course of this year. Likewise, the priority of the Government of Change with the victims of the armed conflict is manifested in the constant accompaniment of professionals from the Territorial Directorate of Bogotá in the region, as part of their missionary commitment.
Finally, and with the purpose of publicizing the Restitution process to the community of the Casanare department, a meeting was held with local and community media. There, Martha Liliana Arévalo shared the achievements and challenges of the land restitution policy in the region, explained to the community how they can carry out their requests and emphasized that these procedures are free and do not require intermediaries.
Source: Land Restitution Unit