“That day we were going to the farm to harvest the corn crop, when those men came to take my husband and my daughter ‘la cubita’, the youngest who is 6 months pregnant.” “We have walked in the sun, in the rain and we will continue to do so until we know what happened,” is how Edilma Sotelo tells the story of his disappearance with a broken voice, moments before the signing of the Pact for the Search in Casanare .
In an open space in the Tauramena municipality, the first day of the meeting on forced disappearance was held, where the delegates of the municipal tables arrived gradually, coming from the 19 municipalities of the department.
There, the attendees learned about the scope of the institutions with competence in this search process, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, Legal Medicine and the Unit for Victims.
In the afternoon of this first day, the Unit for the Search for Missing Persons -UBPD- implemented the strategy “The search train” a dynamic that consisted of physical information stations, where the professionals of the internal territorial work group ( GITT) explained each of the humanitarian actions carried out by the entity, emphasizing participation as a transversal line throughout the process.
There, answers were given to questions such as: If I know of a site where a search can be done, can I report it to you while keeping my name anonymous? Is it possible that some members of the family nucleus could accompany a survey to search for the missing person? In one of these stations, the UBPD prevention and protection professional for the department of Casanare, explained parts of the strategies and analysis of context and risk mitigation measures with organizations and victims of forced disappearance in this region, which facilitates their participation in the different spaces.
In the late afternoon, the delegates lived an emotional space, with the realization of an artistic message, which they put on a bonfire as an act of liberation from thoughts and feelings that overwhelm them daily with the absence of their loved ones.
“I miss you dad, I hope to find your remains.”
“My happiness has always been having the opportunity to see you again.”
“I miss them all my life.”
They were some of the messages that they embodied as a sign of liberation from their pain and sadness.
On the second day, the citizens and the attending entities came together to unveil the monument named “Resiliencia” by the sculptor Jaime García, in homage to the memory of the victims of the armed conflict in Casanare.
This participatory space resulted in the signing of the Pact for the Search, with the banner message: “So they don’t forget you, I’ll keep looking for you”, where institutions and civil society shared their stories of resilience and commitments towards the search for the disappeared. .
“It was a wonderful experience, we were able to do a pedagogical exercise that revealed the missionary scope of the Search Unit, how it advances its humanitarian search and how to strengthen this massive search with the solidarity, collaboration and commitment of all, civil society , institutions, victims, relatives and search organizations” expressed Sonia Rodríguez, coordinator of the Internal Territorial Work Group of the UBPD Yopal headquarters.
Similarly, each of the delegates from the victims’ tables expressed their messages of resilience out loud. “Have the patience to listen and the courage to speak,” said Rafael Pastrana, who has searched for his son and his two grandchildren for years.
This meeting on forced disappearance was led by the municipal tables of victims of Yopal and Tauramena, with the support of the departmental table and the Casanare Governor’s Office.
Source: Missing Persons Search Unit