Guaviare Department

Mass graves found in San Jose del Guaviare

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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1. Aerial shot of Mapiripan region 2. Pull out from skull to Department of Administrative Security (DAS) workers uncovering mass graves 3. Workers examining skull 4. Wide shot of mass graves 5. Various shot of official marking bag with remains 6. Wide of graves 7. Set-up shot of Mario Iguaran 8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Mario Iguaran, Colombian Chief prosecutor: "This is too much. This exceeds what has been discovered before when it comes to graves in other latitudes and in other countries like Bosnia or Chile. But we want to make this clear, we are looking into criminal charges, not only civil charges (referring to cases like the one brought against fruit giant Chiquita). We are asking all the necessary questions to determine who funded paramilitaries with the pretext of providing security. You can clearly see that they didn't pay for security, but for blood." 9. Graves 10. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Mario Iguaran, Colombia's Chief prosecutor: "This is a violation against the laws of humanity. This is genocide. Justice and peace are in place in order to provide justice, integral reparation and the truth." 11. Pan of people moving out remains in plastic bags 12. Various of officials loading remains onto truck 13. Aerial shots of mass grave STORYLINE: Those funding Colombian far-right death squads are to blame for the ongoing bloodshed, the country's chief prosecutor said on Thursday, as the remains of war victims surrounded him. Mario Iguaran visited a cemetery in southern Colombia where dozens of shallow graves containing those killed in the civil conflict, which pits leftist rebels against the state and the paramilitaries, have been found in the past two weeks. "This is too much," Iguaran said. "This exceeds what has been discovered before when it comes to graves in other latitudes and in other countries like Bosnia or Chile." "This is genocide," he said. Standing between the remains of two teenage sisters, whose dismembered bodies where recovered from a mass grave and packed in to plastic bags, Iguaran said that those who gave money to the paramilitaries "didn't pay for security, but for blood." Iguaran is set to travel to Washington in the coming week, where he will meet with his US counterpart Alberto Gonzalez, representatives of the Department of Justice and various congressmen. His trip comes amid the growing scandal over links between the death squads and parts of the security forces, the political class and businesses. Among them are fruit giant Chiquita, which recently agreed to a 25 (m) million US dollar fine after admitting it paid the death squads 1.7 (m) million US dollars for protection over the course of six years. "We are asking all the necessary questions to determine who funded paramilitaries with the pretext of providing security," Iguaran said. The forensic team lined-up the human remains in six rows in the graveyard, each individually wrapped in white plastic, in this war torn corner of Colombia. The prosecutor's office estimates they are around 10-thousand bodies buried in unmarked graves across this country, twice the size of France, cut down by a vicious five-decade civil conflict that pits leftist rebels against the state and the paramilitaries. Some human rights groups put the total of disappeared closer to 31-thousand. While only a handful of crosses identify the proper burials in this cemetery half the size of a football pitch, it's covered with holes from those exhumed by the forensic teams. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/bc4fa7afee4e8c44db52503be51551d3 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork