I refused to go, against the wishes of the fellow mothers. Two weeks later, he granted each of us an amount of $7,800. It was impossible for me to accept the money, as you can’t sell the memory and dignity of your children. But the others got upset and asked me to leave the group.
Later in 2010, death threats were made against all our families. They slipped leaflets with threatening messages under our doors. My eldest son endured these threats for more than two years. One message said: “It’s a pity you have to die in vain, but it’s the only way to shut up your mother.”
The interior ministry and the prosecutor’s office did nothing to protect us. We managed to get help abroad. Amnesty International launched a campaign to denounce this situation and garner support for us. “Give a rose and hope to Mothers of Soacha,” they said. We were given 5,500 roses and received more than 25,000 letters from all over the world.
I travelled to Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and Spain to meet local Amnesty groups and denounce the threats against us at the International Criminal Court and the European parliament. This is how the international community looked after Mothers of Soacha.
Six military members were convicted in 2013 for the murder of Leonardo, which was also declared a crime against humanity. But more recently they invoked their right to be prosecuted by a transitional justice court, established by the 2016 peace agreement signed by the government and FARC guerrillas. Now they walk free.
I support other mothers and work in different Colombian regions where people ignore their rights. While I am a mother of Soacha, now I speak on behalf of a multitude of other victims. Soacha was just the tip of the iceberg.
On 20 February, we finished a year-long project in the Magdalena Medio region with the families of 180 people who have suffered forced disappearance. Shortly after I came back home, the lockdown was imposed.
My children are not nearby. They left years ago due to the death threats. They first moved to different cities – Neiva, Medellín, Villavicencio – and then to other places. It’s better this way, as I can do my work safely if I know they are protected. I also have five beautiful grandchildren but sadly I can’t spend time with them as I should.
The quarantine has been too harsh, as few people in this country have extra resources to survive without income. Some friends and groups are supportive and provide me with medicines I can’t afford to buy.
I keep in contact with many people here and abroad through WhatsApp, and I enjoy reading, weaving and embroidering.
I am worried about homeless people, as they have no clean place to quarantine themselves. Nobody cares about them. I feel so helpless I can’t do anything for them. So along with other friends, I decided to make face masks with the logo of Matarife (meaning ‘Slaughterman’, which is the name of a documentary series about Uribe), sell them and get funds to donate food to the underprivileged.
This pandemic is yet another test of endurance, to see if we are strong enough to carry on and how big our hearts are to help those in need.
[As told to Diana Cariboni]
The Colombian Special Jurisdiction of Peace, a court established by the 2016 accords that put an end to a 50-year long civil war, identified 4,439 victims of extrajudicial killings, falsely declared as combat casualties by military members, between 2002 and 2008. In Colombia, which has the fifth highest number of COVID-19 cases in Latin America, the pandemic has been used to increase violence against human rights defenders and former guerrilla fighters, according to a UN report released in July.
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Radio Free | Radio Free (2020-07-30T08:36:42+00:00) The pandemic is yet another test for Colombian human rights defenders. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/07/30/the-pandemic-is-yet-another-test-for-colombian-human-rights-defenders/
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