Topologies of the dead and the 2016 Peace Accord in Colombia: mass graves, forensic inhumations, and illegal burials

This paper (number 3) in the research project “Burying the Dead” follows the introductory comments and typology of previous papers (Aguilar, 2024a & Aguilar, 2024b) However, it moves the material context of cemeteries from India and Chile assuming the diverse context of contemporary Colombia. Within Colombia, indigenous cemeteries existed in pre-Columbian times but since the colonisation of Spain Catholic cemeteries became the norm for the territories of today’s Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. Thus, this paper describes some of the cemeteries in Bogotá, Medellin, and Cali but concentrates on the topology of the dead, the mapping of mass graves, forensic inhumations, and illegal burials that have taken place within Colombia in the past fifty years of internal violence. The location of those sites of the dead and enforced disappearances have been regulated by the 2016 Peace Accord signed between the state of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armes Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) and the creation of state institutions such as the Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (JEP). This paper outlines how the 2016 Peace Accord has worked institutionally by following the excavations in Medellin, Area 13, particularly in La Escombrera where human remains corresponding to Operation Orión (2002) were found in 2024. This paper considers the Peace Accord a very positive one but contests the possibility that a time limit can be given to such massive national operation of finding the dead, assessing responsibility, burial, and legal compensations. Indeed, the paper is only an introduction to further papers on the topology of the dead and enforced disappearances in different regions of Colombia. Acknowledgement: Research in Colombia and conversations with government personnel was implement through three visits to Bogotá between 2022 and 2023 related to my research on the peace accord and the period of politics under President Gustavo Petro, and an international collaboration on the foundation of an indigenous university in Colombia. Visits to Colombia were funded by a generous grant by the Milarepa Foundation for Dialogue with Asia of Chile.