The general director of the Land Restitution Unit, Giovani Yule, announced the strategic lines of work that will govern the four years of the Government of President Gustavo Petro.
This socialization seeks to reorganize the internal processes of the Meta Territorial Directorate and respond more quickly to the requests of land claimants in Meta and Guaviare.
During his visit to Villavicencio, Director Yule, accompanied by his technical and management team, explained to the collaborators of the Meta Territorial Directorate the strategic line: ‘Governance from territories’ that seeks to strengthen the empowerment of victims, peasant movements, black, afro-descendant, raizal and palenquera communities, indigenous communities and the popular movement.
The second strategic line, called ‘Fluid Fraternal Conversation’, seeks to strengthen the existing courts and tribunals, set up new courts and create a tribunal for the restitution of ethnic territories.
The ‘Inter-institutional coordination’ is the third line of work that is being strengthened in the administrative stage with the Ministry of Defense, the Ombudsman’s Office, the National Protection Unit and municipal and departmental administrations. In the judicial stage, the strengthening is with the judges, the IGAC, and the National Land Agency, ANT. Finally, in the compliance stage, the articulation will be with the entities of the National System of Comprehensive Care and Reparation for Victims, SNARIV.
The fourth line is the work of ‘Articulation with Cooperation’ that is carried out with the National Government, international cooperation organizations, embassies and non-governmental organizations.
Restitution figures
In the jurisdiction of the Meta Territorial Directorate, 11,557 restitution requests have been received, of which 9,335 are from the department of Meta, 1,948 from Guaviare, and 234 from Cundinamarca. Of the total requests received, 1,334 lawsuits have been filed before the courts; Judges have handed down 278 rulings through which 51,189 hectares were restituted for the benefit of 974 people, and the URT has implemented 101 productive projects.
The URT reiterates that the procedures carried out by the entity in each of its stages are free and no person is authorized to collect or receive money with the argument of advancing, expediting or prioritizing cases.
Given this ethical and professional commitment, Giovani Yule invites Colombians to denounce any case of extra-legal collections that arise: “anyone who wants to take advantage of the Victims and Land Restitution Law and profit from it will have to face the rigor of the law”, pointed out the general director of the URT.
Source: Land Restitution Unit