Progress(?) in 2005 Peace Community Massacre Investigation

A journalist and photographer from the Chicago Tribune visited us right before the international encuentro in the peace community. They wanted to know whether peace community members hailed the tentative steps forward the Attorney General had taken in the investigation into the 2005 massacre as a sign that impunity is coming to an end. Here is what they found...

Click here to see the photo essay the did with teammate AJ!

Fighting impunity in Colombia
The massacre sparked international outrage and could jeopardize U.S. aid. Will security forces finally be brought to justice?

By Gary Marx
Tribune foreign correspondent
Published April 1, 2007

LA UNION, Colombia -- Two years ago, 17-year-old Bellanira Areiza and seven other peasants were hacked to death with machetes in the lush hills outside this picturesque hamlet in northwest Colombia.

Community leaders say five residents saw men in Colombian army uniforms take away the victims, and nine others later heard soldiers bragging about the killings. But, until now, the Colombian government's investigation into the massacre went nowhere.

Atty. Gen. Mario Iguaran announced in late February that 69 members of the army's 17th Brigade were being called in for questioning about the killings, which continue to spark international outrage and could jeopardize U.S. aid to Colombia.

Some observers hailed the announcement as a tentative step toward ending the near impunity enjoyed by Colombian security forces that have committed murders and other crimes during this nation's decades-long civil conflict

"We've always kept hope that one day justice will be served for all the blows that we've had to endure," said Renato Areiza, 28, Bellanira's brother and a community leader in La Union. "But we are afraid that this will end in impunity, as always."

The investigation is complicated by the fact that witnesses are in hiding and refuse to cooperate. At least four residents who provided information to investigators about other atrocities have been killed, Areiza said.

Iguaran acknowledged the community's distrust but vowed to press ahead. "I can't say what this means for the country, but at least for the attorney general's office it's a sign that we are trying to demonstrate that we have clarity and determination in the fight against impunity," he said in a recent interview.

The investigation comes as Colombian President Alvaro Uribe suffers his worst political crisis since taking office in 2002.

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