CALI, Colombia (AP) 鈥� From time to time, Gustavo Arbel谩ez faces relatives whose losses were caused by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the powerful guerrilla group he was part of during Colombia鈥檚 five-decade armed conflict.
Tears in their eyes, victims name their loved ones and reprimand him: They had dreams and now they鈥檙e gone.
鈥淚 have never regretted being a guerrilla member,鈥� said Arbel谩ez, who signed a divisive peace pact with the government alongside 13,600 FARC fighters in 2016. 鈥淏ut I now see that those of us who fought our country鈥檚 war lost sight of what life means.鈥�
The fight among leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries, and government forces left more than 450,000 people killed and 124,000 disappeared. These figures are on par with , where thousands under similar circumstances.
In Colombia, though, a peculiar thing happened. Aiming to heal long-time wounds and build new paths toward reconciliation, dozens of former rebels, officials, forensic anthropologists and religious leaders now work side-by-side in finding their country鈥檚 disappeared.
A divisive peace
The 2016 pact earned then-President Juan Manuel Santos a , but neither he nor his successors have fully addressed , displacement and 鈥� issues that helped spark Colombia鈥檚 conflict in the 1960s.
Since he came into office in 2022, the rebel-turned-president who was sworn in as the country鈥檚 first leftist leader, Gustavo Petro, .鈥� His goal is to demobilize all rebels and drug trafficking gangs, but even as a ceasefire was carried out, negotiations with Colombia鈥檚 remaining guerrilla group, the , are in crisis and . Simultaneously, and trafficking mafias continue to affect the country.
鈥淎 peace accord is not only a matter of setting down arms,鈥� said the Rev. Arturo Arrieta, who oversees human rights initiatives in Palmira, a city in southwestern Colombia where efforts to exhume unidentified remains at a church-administered cemetery are underway.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a delay on the implementation of the accord, it鈥檚 underfunded and, although certain mechanisms are working, more actions are needed,鈥� he added.
The peace pact established three crucial institutions for searching efforts: the ; the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, which encourages offenders to confess their crimes and make restitution actions in exchange for not serving any jail time; and the , which traces disappearances within the conflict, conducts exhumations and returns loved ones' remains to hurting relatives like Doris Tejada, whose son 脫scar Morales disappeared in 2007.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been 17 years and still hurts,鈥� said Tejada, who found Morales鈥� remains in 2024. 鈥淚 asked God for help because it was difficult to see his bones. We still mourn.鈥�
Morales vanished near the border with Venezuela, where he had traveled from a city neighboring Bogot谩 to earn money selling clothes. Tejada later learned that he became a 鈥� ," one of the 6,402 civilians who were slain by the military and intentionally registered as rebels during the conflict.
Officials for the killings and some soldiers involved have been sentenced to prison, but many that the military committed war crimes as serious as those carried out by rebels.
鈥淚鈥檝e been very vocal about this,鈥� said Tejada, who tattooed her son鈥檚 face on her arm to keep him present. 鈥淚f this will go unpunished, I want everyone to know that what I cared about the most was rescuing my son鈥檚 body and giving him a Christian burial.鈥�
All Colombians deserve to be found
Arbel谩ez joined FARC in the 1980s in Valle del Cauca, a highly affected region during the conflict. According to him, as a university leader his life was threatened, so he chose the path of arms.
鈥淣one of us decided, from a young age, to become paramilitary leaders, rebels, drug dealers or to run a hitman鈥檚 organization,鈥� he said. 鈥淐ertain circumstances led us to embrace those decisions and no one owns the truth, so we are still trying to understand what made us become part of a conflict that drove us to kill one another.鈥�
Government forces and illegal groups were as responsible for massacres, forced recruitment and disappearances. According to the Truth Commission, paramilitary groups committed 45% of the homicides, while guerrillas 鈥� most of them FARC 鈥� carried out 27% and the government forces 12%.
Among his commitments toward the peace accord, Arbelaez and fellow have shared information that benefits searching efforts. He also works with , an organization led by 140 ex-members of FARC who look for disappeared Colombians all over the territory.
Among those missing are rebels who died in combat and were buried by their comrades in the mountains, so that the military did not show them off as trophies.
鈥淲hen public forces took our men, our souls were ripped apart,鈥� Arbel谩ez said. 鈥淪o we disappeared ourselves.鈥�
Given the divisiveness that the peace process inflames, some have disavowed the search of former rebels. According to the Truth Commission, FARC members were responsible for 24% of the disappearances during the conflict and victims have blamed rebels for causing widespread pain through attacks and kidnappings that financed their operations.
During a in which Corporaci贸n Reencuentros returned a fighter鈥檚 remains to his family in the Colombian city of Cali, Cristi谩n P茅rez鈥檚 partner said that her search was stigmatized for years, as if relatives of guerilla members had no right to find their loved ones.
鈥淩egardless of the political spectrum, religious preference and ethnicity, we are all human beings and have families that look after us,鈥� said Marcela Rodr铆guez, of the search unit in Valle del Cauca. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the view from which the unit was born and what we're constantly trying to make awareness of.鈥�
Our peace will be finding our loved ones
Up until late 2024, the search unit had found 31 disappeared Colombians alive and returned 354 remains.
Its personnel has said that bodies may be buried in : cemeteries, dumps, crematory ovens and strong-current rivers. Given Colombia鈥檚 geography and the remoteness in which the conflict developed, teams travel up to 8 hours by mule through rambling roads to reach spots of interest.
Nonetheless, said forensic anthropologist Juan Carlos Benavides on a that details how the unit operates, it鈥檚 all worth it. 鈥淔inding a body might mean there鈥檚 one less person disappeared in Colombia, but it鈥檚 the peace of a whole family.鈥�
For those who have searched for their loved ones for decades 鈥� signed accord or not 鈥� peace has been a troublesome concept to grasp on.
鈥淓very single day, one wonders what happened to them,鈥� said Mar铆a F茅nix Torres, who lives in Bogot谩 and has searched for her twin brothers since 2007. 鈥淚t鈥檚 terrible.鈥�
Alexander and Henry vanished on their way to a business meeting. From a young age they worked in , an industry that has historically suffered under rivalries and violence.
Torres holds a monthly Mass to pray for her brothers and renew her strength. Church is currently the sole meeting place for her family, which grew distant after the disappearances.
鈥淧eople tell me to stop looking because if I speak badly about the mines, I will get killed,鈥� said Torres. 鈥淲ell, let them kill me. I will never hide. I will search for them until God allows me to.鈥�
Back in Cali, Melba Bernal also continues her search. Her 34-year-old sister, who was member of a political party founded by rebels, disappeared in 1988.
鈥淚鈥檝e been searching for my sister for 36 years and I find this inconceivable, painful and unfair,鈥� Bernal said. 鈥淚 ask God to bring her back to me, to bring me justice.鈥�
Witness testimonies led her to believe that Olga was captured by intelligence police officers who tortured her, then transferred her to a hospital to treat her wounds and ended up who denies any wrongdoing.
Bernal said her mother always searched for her sister alive, and until her death two years ago, she used to look at homeless people鈥檚 faces, hoping to find her.
It鈥檚 painful, Bernal said, that her sister鈥檚 son, now 41, has no memories of Olga. He barely speaks of her, but Bernal believes that if her remains are ever found, he would spread her ashes over water.
鈥淚n the ocean, in a river, one can find rest, fluency, peace.鈥�
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Mar铆a Teresa Hern谩ndez, The Associated Press
