Uttering Unspeakable Truths: The Victims of the Colombian Armed Conflict and the Continuum of Violence
The Colombian armed conflict, a protracted and multifaceted struggle involving the state, paramilitary groups, guerrillas, and drug cartels, has resulted in widespread violence and profound societal disruption over several decades.
The notion of the Continuum of Violence is crucial to understanding this conflict's complex dynamics, encapsulating the persistent, evolving nature of violence. This framework highlights how violence in Colombia has transformed from overt political and military confrontations into more insidious forms, such as criminal activities, human rights abuses, and social violence, thereby perpetuating the victimization of individuals and communities.
The violence committed during the internal armed conflict in Colombia demonstrates the severe damage perpetrated against Indigenous communities. In transitional justice studies, victims of conflicts have been studied by multiple experts, highlighting the complexity of the Colombian internal armed conflict. The diversity of the actors is part of this complexity due to the selective killings of social leaders, threats to entire communities, recruitment of youth and children, violence based on gender, and destruction of nature. This research is focused on the consequences experienced for a specific group of victims of narcotrafficking; women and LGBTQ+ individuals, and the victims of extrajudicial executions and its correlation with the Continuum of Violence. The Continuum of Violence is a category used to explain the accumulative layers of violence suffered for some victims in the highest levels of cruelty. This capstone examines the complexity of those different layers of violence on the Neehwesx Indigenous community in Northern Cauca; some women and LGBTQ+ individuals and the victims of extrajudicial executions in Dabeiba, Antioquia.
The Continuum of Violence as a concept of interpretation opens a new discussion about the nature of the victims, the intersectionality of the crimes committed against them, and the mechanisms of reparations created by the Transitional Justice System. Victims of the Colombian armed conflict have endured a multiplicity of traumas, including displacement, disappearances, sexual violence, and psychological scars that persist long after the cessation of active hostilities. This research delves into the lived experiences of these victims, aiming to foreground their narratives and bring to light the enduring impacts of the Continuum of Violence. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the study seeks to contribute to the broader discourse on peacebuilding and transitional justice, emphasizing the necessity of addressing both immediate and residual forms of violence to achieve sustainable peace.
With the support of the Georgetown Americas Institute (GAI), Esteban Morales Herrera achieved his Master's thesis research on the Continuum of Violence and the Colombian victims of the Internal Armed Conflict. The main panelists of the event, "There is Future if There is Truth" were leaders of the victims, Ms. Pastora Mira, Ms. Jacqueline Castillo, Fr. Francisco De Roux (President of the Truth Commission), and Magistrate Alejandro Ramelli (President of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace). Esteban's research is published in the following link: https://repository.digital.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/1088833
Finally, Esteban was the recipient of the Cura Personalis Award 2024 for this research.