On June 5, 2025, Colombian President Gustavo Petro stood before a solemn crowd gathered in Bogotá and began his address with the powerful words: “Perdón, Peace Community”. In a historic and emotional ceremony, Petro issued a formal state apology to the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó for decades of violence, persecution, and state complicity in human rights abuses. This long-awaited recognition marked a significant moment in Colombia’s reckoning with its armed conflict, particularly given the state’s failure to protect a community that had declared itself neutral and committed to non-violence.
Members of the Peace Community—many of whom had lost loved ones, including children, to massacres perpetrated by paramilitaries and the military—stood alongside human rights defenders, international observers, diplomats, and representatives of civil society, as the president acknowledged the deep pain and dignity of their resistance.
This historic moment would not have been possible without the unwavering support, persistence, and solidarity of the international community. It is due to tireless advocacy, vigilance, and commitment to human rights that helped amplify the voices of the Peace Community and kept their struggle visible on the global stage, ultimately contributing to this long-overdue acknowledgment and step toward justice.
Human Rights Abuses Remain in a State of Impunity
The event’s agenda included testimony from three members of the Peace Community: Yoraldi Arteaga Torres and German Graciano Posso, who were accompanied by Father Javier Giraldo. Giraldo shared over 400 cases of documented human rights violations that remain unpunished to the president. Hence, the question arises: Has “the judiciary only investigated victims and never the perpetrators?”
Short interventions by the international civil society in solidarity with the Peace Community followed. The Colombian state was legally represented by Cesar Palomino Cortés, General Director of the Agencia Nacional de Defensa Jurídica del Estado. The event closed with the president’s speech.
We Will Not Forget
One of the Peace Community’s core pillars is preserving a Culture of Memory. Throughout the event, those lost were present—in pictures, music, T-shirts, and in the Community’s heart.
Preserving memory is essential to honor their lives, resist forgetting, and hold onto the truth, ensuring that their legacy continues to inspire peace.
Quotes and Highlights
“The Community acknowledges the importance of this national and international recognition you, Mr. President, have made today. However, it demands that this act of rectification not underestimate the far-reaching impact of past presidential interventions, which stigmatized the Peace Community widely and caused catastrophic, irreversible consequences over the years.”
Comunidad de Paz de San José de Apartadó
“We know that peace is not achieved through weapons, but by each of us seeking hope, peace, and the defense of life. Life is sacred and cannot be taken or lost—it is essential and non-negotiable. Human rights in Colombia have become a business, but for us, they must be upheld. The Peace Community demands the Constitution be respected and protection for new generations, so they don’t suffer as we have. It is vital that struggles and resistance by campesinos, Afro-descendants, and Indigenous peoples are recognized and protected, as they are the true hope for peace in our country.”
Comunidad de Paz de San José de Apartadó
Find the intervention at 23:00
“On behalf of the Colombian State, I address you with deep respect and responsibility to apologize to the members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó for the serious human rights violations they have endured systematically and continuously for nearly three decades.”
Cesar Palomino, Director General of the National Agency for State Legal Defense
Find his intervention at 1hr14min05
The apology was not only symbolic; it was a demand for accountability, memory, and reparation. It marked the first time the Colombian state had publicly recognized its role in the atrocities committed against the Peace Community, and it represented a crucial step toward rebuilding trust, confronting impunity, and affirming the right of communities to live in peace.
What does it mean, and why is it important?
On March 23, 1997, a group of small farmers living in the mountain valleys of the northern corner of Colombia came together to declare themselves the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. Born amid war and conflict, it was a pacifist and non-violent initiative designed to create a space of protection and safety amid ongoing violence. Yet, what followed in the years to come was far beyond what they could have anticipated.
In 2005, the Peace Community entered into a state of rupture with the Colombian State, following a massacre on February 21, 2005, in which eight people, including three children, were brutally murdered. Evidence pointed to the involvement of both paramilitary forces and the Colombian military. In response to the massacre and years of state-linked violence and persecution, they formally broke relations with the state.
This act of recognition of responsibility and apology has been one of the demands the Peace Community has made for many years. In fact, it took place within the framework of an agreement signed on December 18, 2024, between the Colombian State and the Peace Community before the Inter-American Human Rights System. This agreement comes 27 years after the Inter-American Human Rights System issued protective measures for the Peace Community, and 23 years after the case was brought before the Court due to the lack of guarantees and justice from the Colombian State, as well as serious human rights violations against the Peace Community by action and omission.