Medellín and JEP Urge National Government Support for Search at La Escombrera

Comuna 13, one of Medellín’s 16 urban areas comprising 249 neighborhoods, has been a focal point of Colombia’s internal conflict for decades. The area became a hotspot of violence beginning in the 1980s, marked by the rise of hired assassins and the drug micro-trafficking trade. With minimal state presence, the late 1990s saw a surge in confrontations between FARC and ELN guerrilla militias, and eventually, paramilitary groups such as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) took control, leaving a trace of extreme violence.

Civilians arbitrarily accused of guerrilla collaboration were killed and buried in clandestine graves. Two of the most notorious sites were La Escombrera in the El Salado neighborhood and Alto de la Virgen in La Divisa and many of these disappearances were carried out by paramilitaries that went unpunished for years.

The situation escalated dramatically in 2002, during President Álvaro Uribe Vélez’s term, under the banner of the “Democratic Security” strategy. That year, 11 military operations were launched in Comuna 13 to reclaim areas under guerrilla control. These operations, however, were accompanied by serious human rights violations, including forced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and torture.

Diego Murillo Bejarano, alias ‘Don Berna,’ former commander of an AUC bloc, claimed in 2007 that more than 100 mass graves containing over 300 bodies were located in the area that includes La Escombrera, a construction debris dump.

La Escombrera has become a symbol of impunity and pain, as this analysis by Pedro David Pérez, Universidad de los Andes scholar, explains. Families of the disappeared, along with human rights organizations, have long identified it as a clandestine burial site for victims of illegal detentions and executions. The site is now both a literal and symbolic ground for memory and resistance. Families have transformed it into a place of remembrance and protest, demanding truth, justice, and reparation.

In response, Medellín’s city mayor and Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) have taken concrete steps to support the search for the disappeared. The mayor’s office estimates a budget of over $8 trillion COP ($2 billion USD as of the date of publication) is needed for technical, legal, and logistical resources in this effort. Mayor Federico Gutiérrez Zuluaga called on the national government to contribute with $3.5 trillion COP ($850 million USD) to continue operations through the end of this year, emphasizing the need for a unified response for the sake of the victims. “We ask the National Government to get involved and stand by the victims,” Gutiérrez said in recent declarations.

Key advances include the establishment of a camp for searching mothers, transport services, terrain stabilization efforts, and essential civil works such as fences and monitoring instruments like inclinometers. In the second phase of the search, the Peace and Human Rights Secretariat plans to install two additional inclinometers and piezometers to mitigate erosion risks, deploy heavy machinery, and cover 2,500 square meters of terrain with protective sheeting.

According to JEP president Alejandro Ramelli, their commitment has already included a $650 million COP budget and cooperation with the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation. He echoed the mayor’s call for support from the National Government. “The resources of the Mayor’s Office and those of the JEP are not sufficient for an issue that is of national interest,” Ramelli pointed out.

In parallel, the city has ensured continuous psychosocial, legal, and medical support for the families involved, reaffirming its commitment to the dignity and rights of victims.

Headline photo: Equipment and personnel are arriving to La Escombrera to ensure the search for missing people at the site. (Photo: Alcaldía de Medellín Alcaldía de Medellín)