In order to make visible one of the hardest situations that have caused the greatest impact among the members of the Institution in the framework of the armed confrontation, General Nicacio de Jesús Martínez Espinel, Commander of the National Army; the Comprehensive Legal Department; the Seventh Division of the National Army and the University of Medellín presented at the House of Truth of Antioquia the Report ‘LIGHTS FOR THE TRUTH: Impacts of antipersonnel mines in the lives of the military victims. An approach to the systematic use of the mined fields by the Farc in the paramillo region and its surroundings (2004 2012) ’.
In the period 2002 - 2016 in the departments of Antioquia, Córdoba and Chocó, 1,297 soldiers were victims of mines. The largest number of cases occurred in Paramillo and eastern Antioquia. 1,127 were injured and 170 were killed by the damage caused by these explosive devices.
The years with the highest number of victims in the Paramillo and its surroundings were: 2004 (31 cases), 2008 (51 cases), 2009 (30 cases), 2010 (41 cases) and 2011 (55 cases), adding a total of 231 victims. The municipalities that concentrated these impacts were: Tierra alta, Montelíbano, Puerto Libertador and San José de Uré, on the side of Córdoba; Tarazá, Ituango, Valdivia, Dabeiba, Toledo and Briceño in Antioquia.
This report is the first of 32 documents, the result of the research project 'LIGHTS FOR THE TRUTH: Violations of human rights and violations of International Humanitarian Law against the military and their families', which will be handed over to the Group to clarify the Truth , in order to contribute to the operation of this body of the Comprehensive System of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Non-Repetition, which must present the Final Report that aims to explain the complexity of the armed conflict, in addition to promoting the recognition of victims and contribute to non-repetition.
The presentation of this first academic document counted on the participation of Brigadier General, Juan Carlos Ramírez Trujillo, Commander of the Seventh Division, some of the victims of antipersonnel mines who were part of the construction of the report, including the sitting volleyball team of Antioquia, as well as representatives of the Mayor's Office of Medellín, Human Rights organizations and directors of the Memory Museum House in Medellín.
Source: National Army
