With Colombia’s Peace Agreement in 2016 between the government and leftist rebels, a lot of emphasis was put on the victims.  Can there be justice for the vicitms, and most importantly truth of what happened in the years of violent acts?

To help with this task, the government set up a Truth Commission where all participants of the armed conflict are expected to share their version of the events that made up 50 years of armed conflict. 

Maritza Buitrago Garcia says she will never forget the morning of January 23, 2004 when her father, 64 year-old Ramiro Buitrago Fuentes, was murdered in her home town of Landázuri, Santander, Colombia.

She says her father had been a vocal critic of illicit activities. Coca crops were spreading, and innocent people were being killed. A year later, her brother was also murdered, forcing her family to leave their home.

“Because of my father’s work, the advice from the mayor’s office, was for us to go because if not we would be exterminated,” says, Buitrago.

Today, Buitrago is following in her father’s footsteps as a leader in the pursuit of victims’ rights in Bogotá, Colombia. 

What has motivated her most recent work are the words, spoken at her father’s funeral.

"The priest said there will always be a reason, and 16 years later the why is not clear, and so that is why years later I ask for truth," she said. "Who were the people behind the killing?"

For victims of Colombia’s 50-year armed conflict, truth is sometimes more important than justice. Several different armed groups that have left millions of victims. According to the government’s national victims’ unit there are at least 9,123,123 registered victims to date.

With the signing of a 2016 peace accord between the Colombian government and the leftist guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as FARC, victims have been hoping truth would become a priority.

A Truth Commission was set up – a public institution whose goal is to listen and record what happened in the internal armed conflict – without judgement. Victims and victimizers alike participate in retelling their stories.

In March, two warlords – sworn enemies in the conflict appeared together in a Truth Commission virtual hearing.

Rodrigo Londoño, alias Timochenko, led the leftist guerrilla group known as FARC. Salvatore Mancuso led the right-wing paramilitary group known as the AUC.

During the hearing Mancuso said: “My main objective and for everyone here, is to help restore dignity for the victims, and to accept our responsibility in all of the crimes committed during the armed conflict.”

No charges will be brought against the people who testify. It is not a trial.

For victims like Buitrago there is hope that transparency will lead to peace.

"Even though there is a tribunal there needs to be a commission of truth, because there needs to be a bigger investigation, not to sanction, but to understand what happened? Why did it happen? Who was behind it? Who financed it? Was our war financed internally or internationally,” asks Buitrago.

The commission’s three-year effort to gather testimonies and information will end on November 28 of this year.

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