A third group of victims traveled to Cuba on Wednesday to join ongoing peace talks between the Colombian government and rebel group FARC.
The group is the third of the five to participate in the peace talks.
MORE: 2nd group of Colombia conflict victims arrives in Havana to attend peace talks
The group have been composed of 12 members from different ethnic groups, and will represent the more than 6 million victims, 220 thousand of which were killed, of the five decades long war between the government and the FARC.
The third delegation, like the previous groups, is comprised of victims of the state, state-aligned paramilitary forces and the FARC, who will tell their stories at the negotiations table and share their views on how to repair the victims in Colombia.
Most notably of the chosen victims are Major General Luis Mendieta, who was held hostage by the FARC for more than 11 years and is the first member of the military to represent military victims of FARC war crimes.
MORE: Military victims of FARC war crimes seek representation in Colombia peace talks
Other prominent victims are Alan Jara, the Liberal governor of the central Meta state who, like Mendieta, spent years as a FARC hostage in the jungle. Aida Avella, president of the leftist Patriotic Union party, will represent families of the thousands who were assassinated after the FARC and leftist though leaders like Avella began the party in the 1980s.
Conozca quiénes son las víctimas que hacen parte de tercera delegación que viaja a La Habana. http://t.co/9sTkz9zv0U pic.twitter.com/zBvQbAvqDg
— Reconciliación Co (@ReconciliaCol) October 1, 2014
Members of 3rd victim representation group
Alan Jara
Governor of Meta. Jara was kidnapped by the FARC on July 15, 2001 and released on February 3, 2009.
Major General Luis Mendieta
Kidnapped by the FARC for 11 years, 7 months and 13 days. He is the highest ranking officer to be kidnapped by the guerrillas.
Emilce Hernandez Perdomo
Was wrongfully accused of being a guerrilla by the police.
Aida Avella
Member of the Patriotic Union party. Threatened and exiled by state-aligned paramilitary groups.
Camilo Umaña Hernandez
Son of Eduardo Umaña Mendoza, a human rights defender who was killed by paramilitaries on April 18, 1998.
Martha Luz de Ujueta
Mother of a victim killed in the 2003 Club El Nogal bombing, where a car parked in a garage on the third floor of the elite and high-class nightclub El Nogal exploded killing 36 and wounding 200. FARC ringleader “El Paisa” was sentenced to 40 years for masterminding the attack.
MORE: FARC leader ‘El Paisa’ sentenced to 40 years in absentia
Ximena Ochoa
Her livestock was stolen by the FARC and she was extorted.
Maria Victoria Guio
Member of the Red Mariposas de Alas Nuevas Construyendo Futuro, a 120 people strong female group based in Buenaventura focused on “defending the rights and quality for women in Buenaventura” violence and assaults against women and children.
Erika Paola Jaimes
Daughter of two people killed in a paramilitary massacre that took place in the northern Norte de Santander state.
Luis Fernando Arias
Senior advisor of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia. Father and grandfather was killed.
Soraya Bayuelo
Received the National Peace Prize.
Nancy Galarraga
Her sisters, aged 13, 18 and 22, were abducted, killed and dismembered by paramilitary groups in 2001.
Sources
- General Mendieta y Alan Jara en tercer grupo de víctimas que va a La Habana (Reconciliation Colombia)
- Jara, Mendieta, Aída Avella, entre las víctimas que viajaron a Cuba (El Tiempo)