Colombian peace court returns remains of victims missing for over 25 years

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) in Colombia has delivered the remains of three victims of forced disappearance to their families. These individuals vanished more than two decades ago during the country's armed conflict. The bodies were recovered in the municipality of Apartadó, located in the northwestern department of Antioquia.

The JEP stated that the remains were found in rural areas of San José de Apartadó. This discovery was made possible through voluntary statements from former FARC members and judicial proceedings within Case 04, which investigates crimes committed during the conflict in the Urabá subregion. The identified victims are Luis Eduardo Aguirre, a community leader and farmer who disappeared on July 10, 2001, and Humberto Palacios Palacios, a woodcutter who disappeared on October 19, 2000. The identity of a third victim remains confidential at the jurisdiction's request. The remains were handed over to their families on June 12.

The recovery involved cross-referencing information, judicial inspections, and on-site verifications by the JEP's Truth Recognition Chamber and Technical Forensic Support Group. Identification was achieved through anthropological analysis and genetic testing conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, the Search Unit for Missing Persons, and the victims' families. The JEP highlighted that these entregas represent a significant step in clarifying forced disappearances in Urabá and underscore the value of truth contributions from ex-combatants in locating missing persons.

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these deliveries constitute progress in clarifying forced disappearances that occurred in Urabá and reflect the importance of the truth contributions made by ex-combatants subjected to that tribunal to locate people disappeared during the armed conflict.