2024-09-25 10:20:27
“We cannot forgive an institution that has lied to us.” Paola Medina Charry, Tarcisio Medina Charry’s younger sister, said yesterday during the posthumous ceremony held for the young man who disappeared 36 years ago that the police have not told the truth about what happened on the night of February 19, 1988.
HUILA DAILY, SPECIALS
By: Gustavo Patiño
“We cannot forgive an institution that has lied to us.” “The Universidad Surcolombiana, created by Law 13 of 1976 and recognized by Resolution 9062 of October 26, 1976 issued by the Ministry of National Education, considering that Tarcisio Medina Charry satisfactorily complied with all the requirements demanded by the agreement and regulations of the University, grants him the title of Bachelor of Linguistics and Literature in the City of Neiva, Huila on the 24th day of 2024,” were the words spoken by the master of ceremonies yesterday, when reading the posthumous degree certificate for Tarcisio Medina Charry, who disappeared by the Huila Police on the night of February 19, 1988.
In a solemn ceremony accompanied by slogans from militants of the Patriotic Union and the Communist Youth, associations of which Tarcisio was a member at the time of his disappearance, the diploma granting him the posthumous title was presented to his family. The ceremony was held in compliance with an order from the Chamber of Absence of Recognition of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace – JEP.
More than a tribute
The event was chaired by Judge Raúl Sánchez, who pointed out the importance of the posthumous degree, which is not only a tribute to Tarcisio Medina Charry, a young student who disappeared during the period of state violence and political genocide of the Patriotic Union, but also represents a moment of symbolic reparation and recognition of the pain of the affected families.
“The events that we are going to carry out during this day are born as an effort by the section of lack of recognition to materialize that justice, to restore the rights of a victim, of his family, but that without a doubt we hope will serve as an appetizer to begin a path of broad restoration for the transformation and to restore a legacy of that young man that we miss so much this September 24, whose life was cut short by state violence during the political genocide of the Patriotic Union,” said the judge.
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During the posthumous ceremony, representatives of the Reiniciar corporation and the Asfaddes association intervened, as did organisational processes that have demanded justice and the appearance of the mortal remains of the young man who was detained and disappeared. Libardo Chilatra, representative of the UP, and Diego García, from the Higher Student Council and the Communist Youth, also intervened. The representatives of these organisations gave an account of the violations, political persecution and extermination that militants of left-wing organisations, human rights defenders, environmental leaders, among others, suffered and still suffer today for opposing a system and proposing new ways of building society.
Family tragedy
Johana Medina Charry, Tarcisio’s sister, gave a moving testimony that addressed the tragedy of her family, as well as the broader context of the search for truth and justice in Colombia, “He was the first member of the family who managed to get into a university to realize his dreams. At that time it was very difficult to get into university, since we did not live in the city and for people who lived in the rural sector it was more difficult and everything was much more complex.”
“For all this, it was very gratifying for us as a family when he achieved this first dream of many projects and dreams that he had saved and for which he had all the attitude and willingness to achieve them, since he was convinced that education was an important and determining factor to contribute to the family and above all to society. But all those dreams and projects were frustrated in an absurd way by the forced disappearance of which he was a victim,” she said.
“My mother, María Marleny Charry de Medina, never stopped searching, she always worked with the hope that one day we would know what happened. Unfortunately, in 2020, the pandemic took her away without achieving her goal. My sister Paola has led this great work for many years in search of the truth, not only the truth of our family, but of many Colombians who have gone through this difficult time,” she said, thanking the young people of the student movement of the Universidad Surcolombiana for keeping her brother’s memory alive. “This posthumous degree is not only for us as a family, but also for you students of the Universidad Surcolombiana who for so many years have kept my brother’s memory alive.”
Recognition of responsibility
During the ceremony, as ordered by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, Colonel Carlos Tellez, commander of the Huila Police, was present. On behalf of the institution, he acknowledged responsibility and asked the family for forgiveness. “In my capacity as commander of the Huila Police Department and on behalf of the Colombian National Police, it is an immense responsibility to accompany them today to publicly apologize for the disappearance of the young attorney Tarcisio Medina Charry and his family for the violation and transgression of their fundamental rights to life and personal integrity at the hands of members of the police institution, being subjects of special constitutional protection and therefore deserving of a life free of violence,” said Colonel Tellez.
The police did not fulfill their mission
The commander of the Huila Police assured that the responsibility of the institution is to ensure the safety and integrity of citizens and that, in this case, this mission was not fulfilled, “a fundamental part of the comprehensive reparation is the solemn act that brings us together today, to recognize the deep damage that was caused, for which the National Police asks for forgiveness as a moral duty.”
“The State has the duty to ensure the integrity of its citizens, and it is therefore unacceptable and reprehensible that they are victims of human rights violations while they are in the hands of those who should guarantee their protection and respect, as is the case here, of Mr. Tarsicio Medina Charry, who was not guaranteed such rights. As an institution, we recognize that events such as these have caused harm and pain, which drives us to seek the horizon for a solution that allows us to guarantee the full enjoyment of their fundamental rights,” added the colonel.
“We cannot forgive”
For her part, in her speech, Paola Medina Charry thanked her family for their support in this process, which has allowed her to build a family from the struggle to find the detained and missing persons. She also pointed out that her family’s forgiveness is not forthcoming, since her brother’s remains have not been returned to them. She assured that the police are aware of what happened on the night of February 19, 1988, but they have not wanted to give the truth.
“For us there can be no possibility of forgiveness. For us as a family it is not possible to accept forgiveness at this time, when the body of my brother Tarcisio has not yet appeared. When the state entity that took him away, which was the Police, has not made even the slightest effort to allow us to have the truth. We know that the night Tarcisio was detained and disappeared here outside the South Colombian University. There were about 12 other officers in that tank, and in my ignorance, I can do the math. How many people were there perhaps at the time of his entry into the command,” said Tarcisio’s sister.
“They have lied to us”
“Today many of them are enjoying a pension, from their families, from their grandchildren, from their nephews. All these possibilities that were denied to us with Tarcisio. We were not able to see him graduate, because this was my mother’s greatest dream. To see her son become a professional, they took away the possibility of meeting her grandchildren. Of forming a different family with him, because Tarcisio wanted my mother to no longer live in the countryside. And not to lead the life that she had to live for many years. For these and many other reasons today we understand that it is not possible to forgive an institution. That it has lied to us, that it knows the truth of the events that occurred that night. And that at no time does it speak to us of the possibility of knowing how they murdered Tarcisio. Because we are certain that they murdered him,” she said.