Article published in the special Newsletter '15 years of PBI', October 2009

Dorrit Timmer, volunteer from Holland (2002-2004)

The urban conflict in Medellin:  Despite the paramilitary demobilisation, the marginalised neighbourhoods in Medellin continue to register high levels of violence.

From the house, we heard the sounds of the helicopters flying over the city for hours. It was May 2002; Operation Mariscal was taking place in the Comuna 13, or District 13 neighbourhoods. We saw on the news how a massive military deployment invaded that working class area of Medellin. They captured militia and alleged militia, others were wounded and around a dozen civilians were killed.

I had only been in the PBI Medellin team for a few weeks.  In spite of the fact that life was carrying on as normal in most of the city, we felt like there was a war taking place nearby.  We tried to maintain communication with the volunteer who was accompanying a lawyer in the disputed area.  The commission that was verifying that human rights were being respected was in the midst of the groups that were fighting.

They told us that they had started to «take over and pacify» the comuna.  A few months later, a new operation called Orion, left more victims because of the excessive military force used in the urban context.  From then on, many organisations condemned military and paramilitary control in certain areas of the comuna 1.

In spite of the fact that the armed checkpoints between the borders of the different neighbourhoods, which had sometimes made us feel uncomfortable and scared, disappeared, from that day forward, we rarely accompanied activities there.  The community work had for the most part broken down because no one trusted anyone else.  The few times we went, we felt the strange silence that reigned over the area.  People were in their houses but they no longer said hello.  Was this the peace that had been talked about?

The work with victims and talking about human rights became delicate subjects because, according to the Center for Research and Popular Education (CINEP) and the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission (CIJP), the military, the police and the paramilitaries were working together and all information ended up in the wrong hands 2. Criticism was considered to be suspicious and subversive and those who dared to denounce attacks or violations had to leave or they paid with their lives.  Mass graves were discovered years later 3.

The show of a massive handing over of arms at the end of 2003 marked the official beginning of the disarming of the Cacique Nutibara Block in Medellin. Some 900 paramilitaries from this group laid down their arms to return to civilian life.  In exchange for the truth they would receive reduced sentences and new opportunities sponsored by the State. Since 2006, in my new job in the middle of the historic comunas, I have been able to get closer to the reality lived by most people in Medellin, although the city is different now.

«In spite of the official discourse of the government about the fact that paramilitarism no longer exists in Colombia, there are telephone calls from the self-entitled Black Eagles, leaflets with fascist messages, intimidation and theft of information from social organisations in areas where there is state control, the presence of local mafia groups linked to drug trafficking and sexual exploitation of young people.  Levels of violent deaths reaching more than 20 some weekends as a result of scores being settled make us think of previous times and provide a glimpse of a hidden reality in the capital of Antioquia»4. 

The image of apparent normality cannot hide the reality of the violence that continues to devastate Medellin.

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1   «Colombia: Los paramilitares en Medellín: ¿desmovilización o legalización?», Amnesty International, 1 September 2005

2  «Los organos de justicia y control compartiendo arbitrariedades de la Fuerza Pública», Political violence database, CINEP and CIJP, May 2003

3  «Sentencia judicial confirma fosas comunes y control paramilitar en la Comuna 13 con posterioridad a la Operación Orión», Movimiento de Víctimas, April 2008

4  «Las ”Águilas Negras”  anuncian limpieza social en un sector de Medellín», Caracol Radio, 31 January  2008