Justice in Colombia
Liria Rosa Garcia and members of her community who were displaced from their homes by the AUC in Colombia
Justitia is the Roman Goddess of Justice, her image can be seen in courts all over the world. In this article, Juan Sebastian Bastidas questions whether justice can be found in his home country of Colombia where millions of people have lost their homes to paramilitary forces
Colombia’s Justice: An illustration of Justitia’s actual features
Justice is supposed to be blind and fair. But what happens when the lady justice Justitia looks out from behind her blindfold to see who’s standing in front of her?
Liria Rosa García, the leader of the peasants who were displaced by the AUC in Curvaradó in 1997, was admirably strong when she took up the challenge of disputing in court the repossession of the land that, by law, belong to her and her community. Knowing, that its decision could cost her own life, a price that past leaders had to pay to the Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, or AUC.
Liria is a determined woman. Despite the excuses, omissions and red tape with which the 23 communities, that Liria represents, have been despaired with, she hasn’t surrendered, and she won’t; until the dream of getting back home gets accomplished or, until the fire of a weapon stop her mind from dreaming.
What happens when the lady justice Justitia stops balancing the scale of truth and fairness to let terrorists take justice into their own hands?
More than 60 people make up the list of deaths caused by illegal groups, which don’t want the restitution program to happen. Moreover, an uncountable number of people from the displaced black communities from Curvaradó were getting death threats in order to make them stop in their struggle for justice. This story seems to replicate in other parts of Colombia where the Roman Goddess of Justice is either bribe or scared by an onslaught of “Parapoliticians”.
What happens when the Lady Justice Justitia has feet that weight as much as the marble that sculptors use to personify her?
It’s been 14 years since Liria Rosa García was forced to leave home, along with thousands of families that, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre or IDMC, create in the actuality a total number of 5.2 million people internally displaced by illegal armed groups. Creating what is known as the biggest land stealing in history. And former peasants have passed away, waiting on their new-deprived homes, at the outskirts of the big cities, the justice that never came along.
According to the ONU, 6.6 million of hectares were stolen in Colombia, from which, only half a million have been returned to its original owners, since the rural exodus started to happen in the 90’s. These scandalous figures confirm how much it takes to justice to arrive, if she actually arrives, which is unlikely.
Justice seems to be only an idealized and utopian term that can only be found, on its desired way, on the Politician’s schemes, which are full of rhetoric and charisma, but deep inside don’t offer something useful. Because a country like Colombia needs changes towards justice, and Justitia is not going to be faster or more fair unless Colombians, like Liria R García, let her know.