Relatives of disappeared brace themselves as bodies are exhumed from notorious mass grave in Colombia
When Operation Orión began in October 2002, Hermey Mejía thought the violence that had ravaged his corner of Medellín for decades would finally come to an end.
The 22-year-old told his mother, Teresa Gómez, that he hoped Colombia’s armed forces would get rid of the urban guerrillas who ruled the streets of Comuna 13, then one of the most dangerous districts in the world. The area, of strategic importance for drugs and weapons trafficking, had long been trapped in a cycle of bloodshed: first under Pablo Escobar’s narcos, then, after their fall, leftwing militias.
Instead, as the military sought to wrest back control, the streets became a battlefield once more.
“Bullets, bullets, bullets, from above, in front of our homes, everywhere,” said Gómez. “They killed many people. Many more were taken. We all lived with fear.”
The largest urban military assault in Colombia’s history was brutal. Helicopters fired on the streets from above; residents were dragged away in front of their families; women and girls were sexually abused; hundreds of people were arbitrarily detained, tortured or killed.
