Her Sign Reads: "Without Weapons Life is a Different Story"
The Sign Reads: "Senecio Serna, 103 Years, Displaced"
Anti-Riot Police Guarding the Entrance to the Office of Accion Social
PBI was Accompanying and Observing the MarchYesterday was a very interesting day. I was able to do some anthropology literally on the streets of downtown Medellin. The displaced population organized and conducted a march in commemoration of the creation and passing of Law 387 of 1997, while at the same time protest against the fact that, for the most part, it is not being honored, at least not fully. The people held banners and were enthusiastically marching through downtown, demanding that their rights be protected.
The march lasted from around 10.00am to about 1.30pm. There were probably 1000 people present, men, women, young and old. There was a man who sat on a wheelchair, and a girl sitting on his lap held a sign that read: "Selecio Serna, 103 years, Displaced."
Other signs read: "No more never-ending lines, no more injustice, no more violation of our rights, we demand respect" "We reject long lines, lack of information, bad treatment on the part of functionaries, domicile visits, and the failure to fulfill emergency humanitarian assistance" "The displaced request respect from the government. Land, dignified housing, equitable productive projects" "We didn't ask to be taken out of what was ours. Why are you denying our rights?" "No more hunger" "We demand truth, justice and integral reparations according to Law 387 of 1997" "Humanitarian humiliation, that is what emergency humanitarian assistance has become for all the population in situation of displacement in the Department of Antioquia" "The displaced and vulnerable population is not begging" "We demand the observance of Law 387, C278, T025 and good attention" "We demand dignified housing, administrative reparation, productive projects for 19 minimum salaries" "Major Alfonzo Salazar we want land for our housing projects Law 387 of 1997" "Violated rights: to equality, to free expression, to one's own identity, Articles 5 and 6 of C.C.A and articles 23, 29, 13 y 2 of the constitution" "Medellin, an equitable and solidary city. 57 thousand million for the murderers, 6 thousand million for the victims" "women head of household mistreated by Accion Social. Auto 092 needs to be a reality" "Without weapons life is a different story."
These were just a few examples of what people were carrying with them. The most important part is that they had the arguments, they had the law behind them, they quoted laws, and follow-ups to the laws. They were demanding what was promised to them, nothing more and nothing less.
It was a powerful experience to be able to participate and observe this massive collective action, but I am sad to say that I've been looking everywhere to find news about this, but have not been successful. I have only found 2 short stories in small and independent news websites. There is absolutely nothing in local newspapers. This problem keeps being invisible, even with these large collective efforts on the part of the displaced population.
I have to keep this short; I need to prepare for another interview I'm conducting in a few hours. I hope you enjoy the photos. I will try to write a post with more in-depth information on who are the displaced and why they are displaced, per the request of one of the readers. I am aware of the fact that I haven't touched much on that since I started writing, I just have a small hint on the description of the project. I will try to post that tomorrow. Please feel free to email me questions if you have them, I'll be glad to try to answer them as best as I can.
The march lasted from around 10.00am to about 1.30pm. There were probably 1000 people present, men, women, young and old. There was a man who sat on a wheelchair, and a girl sitting on his lap held a sign that read: "Selecio Serna, 103 years, Displaced."
Other signs read: "No more never-ending lines, no more injustice, no more violation of our rights, we demand respect" "We reject long lines, lack of information, bad treatment on the part of functionaries, domicile visits, and the failure to fulfill emergency humanitarian assistance" "The displaced request respect from the government. Land, dignified housing, equitable productive projects" "We didn't ask to be taken out of what was ours. Why are you denying our rights?" "No more hunger" "We demand truth, justice and integral reparations according to Law 387 of 1997" "Humanitarian humiliation, that is what emergency humanitarian assistance has become for all the population in situation of displacement in the Department of Antioquia" "The displaced and vulnerable population is not begging" "We demand the observance of Law 387, C278, T025 and good attention" "We demand dignified housing, administrative reparation, productive projects for 19 minimum salaries" "Major Alfonzo Salazar we want land for our housing projects Law 387 of 1997" "Violated rights: to equality, to free expression, to one's own identity, Articles 5 and 6 of C.C.A and articles 23, 29, 13 y 2 of the constitution" "Medellin, an equitable and solidary city. 57 thousand million for the murderers, 6 thousand million for the victims" "women head of household mistreated by Accion Social. Auto 092 needs to be a reality" "Without weapons life is a different story."
These were just a few examples of what people were carrying with them. The most important part is that they had the arguments, they had the law behind them, they quoted laws, and follow-ups to the laws. They were demanding what was promised to them, nothing more and nothing less.
It was a powerful experience to be able to participate and observe this massive collective action, but I am sad to say that I've been looking everywhere to find news about this, but have not been successful. I have only found 2 short stories in small and independent news websites. There is absolutely nothing in local newspapers. This problem keeps being invisible, even with these large collective efforts on the part of the displaced population.
I have to keep this short; I need to prepare for another interview I'm conducting in a few hours. I hope you enjoy the photos. I will try to write a post with more in-depth information on who are the displaced and why they are displaced, per the request of one of the readers. I am aware of the fact that I haven't touched much on that since I started writing, I just have a small hint on the description of the project. I will try to post that tomorrow. Please feel free to email me questions if you have them, I'll be glad to try to answer them as best as I can.
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