The price of peace

Colombia is reeling from the False Positive scandal. Incentivised by the government, soldiers abducted and killed over 7,000 innocent civilians, falsely presenting them as guerilla fighters in an attempt to convince the nation they were winning a bloody civil conflict that had raged for over 50 years.

But can an innovative system of justice bring those responsible to justice? Can it offer the victims’ families the chance to find truth and closure after years of unimaginable grief? Can this groundbreaking approach maintain Colombia’s fragile peace? And bring hope to other war torn countries struggling to break free from cycles of violence?

We meet Blanca Monroy, the mother of a murdered young man, who battled the establishment to bring the scandal to national attention. We join forensic anthropologist, Cesar Medina as he hunts for the bodies of the missing. And discover a story of remarkable human forgiveness.

Jaime Trujillo is an ex-soldier, desperate to atone for his role in around 40 of the murders. Now he’s turned whistleblower, providing detailed evidence to the Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (JEP) – the special tribunal established under Colombia's peace agreement to investigate crimes committed during the decades-long conflict.

Amparo Correa is the mother of one of the men Jaime’s unit killed – Jhon Jarvi. Together with her sister Esneda Correa, she found the courage to meet Jaime face-to-face. Hearing first-hand how he was forced to carry out his orders under threat of death from his commanding officer, the sisters have found it in their hearts to not only forgive him, but to embrace him as a friend.

(Photo: Blanca Nubia Monroy mother Julio Oviedo Monroy a young man who was disappeared and murdered in the false positive scandal in 2008. Credit Harriet Barber)

Presenter: Harriet Barber
Producer: Duncan Bulling
A 2 Degrees West production for BBC Radio 4