Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has since 2005 exhumed the remains of 2,778 people from 2,226 mass graves throughout the country.
In compliance with the 2005 Justice and Peace Law, the PG’s Office announced Wednesday that 2,778 corpses have so far been unearthed in an arduous process that is ever ongoing.
According to news site RCN 675 remains have been handed back to their relatives and some 658 are still being identified.
A large number of mass graves have been unearthed in Colombia’s southern department of Cauca – seven graves containing the remains of about 58 people.
The prosecutor for the Justice and Peace Unity in this department, Hector Doney Toro, stated that the exhumation and identification process was lengthy, expensive and unpredictable, and communities waiting for news of lost relatives have to be patient and understanding of the rules.
The Prosecutor General started the exhumation of graves in 2005, while the paramilitary organization AUC and the government of President Alvaro Uribe started talking about the demobilization of the paramilitary forces.