A “popular court” was created in the Siloé neighborhood, in Cali, the third largest city in Colombia, to do justice – in a symbolic way – to the victims of the police repression that occurred in the framework of the 2021 national strike. September, this court held a public hearing, in which relatives of victims shared their testimonies. They hope to obtain answers also from ordinary justice in the future.
On September 10, dressed in a white T-shirt and two badges with a photo of her brother, Crisol Yurani Sánchez recounted her family’s nightmare. The body of her 16-year-old relative was found burned, on May 29, 2021, in a store in Siloé, a poor neighborhood in Cali, after being detained by the police the day before. With a microphone in hand, the 26-year-old woman recounts the threats her family received, “for the simple fact of denouncing her murder” and the feeling of being “abandoned by the state” in their search for Justice.
At the end of his story, he passes the microphone to Abelardo Aranda, dressed in a shirt printed with a photo of his son. This 24-year-old was killed by a bullet in the back on May 28, 2021, also in Siloé. With a serious tone and an arm around his wife’s shoulder, he confides: “It’s very hard, I don’t want this to happen to anyone.”
Crisol Yurani Sánchez and Abelardo Aranda shared their testimonies in front of an excited audience, within the framework of a public hearing that took place in a room of the San Matías Apóstol parish, in Siloé. It was organized by “Popular Court of Siloé”a symbolic body created by social organizations, lawyers and residents of that neighborhood, after the demonstrations that shook Colombia last year.
Within the framework of these historic protests against the government of former President Iván Duque, which lasted almost three months, dozens of people were killed, many of them by the police (including 25 Y 47 according to NGOs). Most of the murders occurred in Cali, and a large part in Siloé.
>> See the special program (July 2021): “Colombia: silence the revolt at all costs”
Slow or non-existent judicial investigations
More than a year after the events, the judicial investigations are progressing slowly and in several cases are non-existent. According to the NGO Human Rights Watch, so far only eight police officers have been charged or charged with the murders of ten people.
“Given that there is so much impunity, we wanted to create a tool so that there is, at least, ethical justice,” explains Martha Elena Giraldo Mendoza, a member of the popular court, which officially started on May 3.
For the public hearing on September 10, the organizers began preparing the hall of the San Matías Apóstol parish from 7:00 a.m. They placed photos of young people from Siloé murdered last year, plastic chairs for the public and a projector, and made technical tests to ensure the transmission of the hearing live on youtube. An imposing poster was displayed on the facade of the parish: “Everyone to the People’s Court of Siloé – Truth and Justice for the victims of the national strike.”
“Systematic” human rights violations
The hearing began at 9:30 am, with three international guests recognized for their commitment to human rights, who traveled from Bolivia, Cuba and Argentina to play the role of “magistrates.”
During the morning, the “Technical Secretary” of the court presented a summary of the numerous human rights violations committed in Cali last year, with videos and audio testimonies, to show their “systematic” aspect. The room gradually filled, partly with relatives of victims.
Abelardo Aranda, the father of the young man killed by a bullet on May 28, 2021, explains that he filed a complaint with the Cali Prosecutor’s Office the day after his death. “But so far, we haven’t had any response, he’s heartbreaking,” he laments, discouraged.
Likewise, Crisol Yurani Sánchez details that her brother’s case was first examined by the Cali Prosecutor’s Office, before being transferred to a Bogotá Prosecutor’s Office, specializing in human rights: “They started taking testimonies again a week ago, everything is too slow. . In addition, it is painful to see that State institutions collaborate so that there is impunity. For example, the National Institute of Legal Medicine gave us incomplete reports, with radiographs that are not from my brother’s body.”
“There is a lack of interest of the State to clarify the facts”
According to Santiago Medina, the Sánchez family’s lawyer, the investigations are progressing slowly because “a lot of material evidence was not collected correctly last year and there is a lack of interest from the State to clarify the facts. In general, there is impunity in the facts that surround the investigations of State agents.”
As a symbol of this disinterest, the chair reserved for the lawyer who had to defend the State was empty all day.
“It is a lack of respect for us,” criticizes Crisol Yurani Sánchez. “The lawyer was appointed by the Ombudsman’s Office (an institution of the Public Ministry), but he told us that he did not come because he only went to formal justice scenarios,” Santiago Medina specifies. Even so, he considers that his appointment constitutes a “first step” towards the recognition of the popular court.
What prospects?
At the end of the hearing, around 3:00 pm, the “international magistrates” explained that they will have to legally qualify the facts presented. Bolivian Edgar Ramos Andrade indicated: “The lawyers of the popular court used the figures of ‘crimes against humanity’ and ‘continuous genocide’. We are going to study that, to issue a ruling, no later than February.”
The families of the victims hope that this sentence – symbolic – will have an impact on ordinary Justice, as explained by Crisol Yurani Sánchez: “The popular court dignifies families and allows the truth to be made visible, but we also need Justice from the organizations of the Condition”. Otherwise, the popular court considers going to international organizations.
This article was adapted from its French original.
