800 families in the Santander department, Northeast Colombia, reported
the forced disappearances of relatives by paramilitary groups.
Most of these bodies will never be found since paramilitary groups disposed of the corpses to leave no trace of the crime, Elizabeth Martinez Pineda, director of the Development Corporation of Santander, said.
Salvatore Mancuso, extradited leader of demobilized paramilitary group the AUC, confessed that most of the bodies were dismembered, burnt or thrown into rivers, vanguardia.com reported Wednesday.
The stories of the murderers have been widely reported in the local media but “people need to hear the stories of the victims”, Martinez said. “Society has to understand what happened in order to be able to come to terms with the incidents.”
Mancuso announced last week to name politicians and businessmen who benefited from ties with the AUC.
