Before the Second Committee of the Senate, a virtual session was held with relatives of people detained abroad, and among them was Mónica Murillo, daughter of Diego Fernando Murillo Bejaranoalias don bernwho stated that his father is in serious health conditions from the Terre Haute prison, in Indiana –United States– where he is being held.
The relative of the former commander of the Cacique Nutibara Block of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia –AUC– explained that the cold in the cell where he is serving his sentence does not help to improve his situation and that he even needs a wheelchair to get around.
“The visiting conditions are too difficult, he is going deaf in one ear so talking to him is becoming more and more complicated,” Murillo said. He remembered that he is still under Justice and Peace and that, under this mechanism, he has maintained his firm commitment to tell the truth about his version of the armed conflict and the crimes that are related to him and the paramilitary bloc he commanded.
He explained that, although he has not refused to tell the truth, the current conditions in which he is being held have made this process difficult. In addition, he criticized that don bern does not have digital tools to submit their statements.
“He has never refused to tell the truth, only now in this prison, there are no technological conditions for him to continue with Justice and Peace telling the truth, making reparations to the victims. It has been very complicated and sometimes they think that he does not want to or that he refuses, but that is not the case”, explained the daughter of the condemned paramilitary.
Mónica Murillo also explained that in August 2022 the Superior Court of Medellin issued a ruling in which he was granted the possibility of being transferred to a prison near a hospital in Florida, but said order was not complied with; “This cannot be corroborated by the lawyer Michel Pineda who is at this moment -in the session-“. Similarly, he reiterated that his father is committed to making the necessary contributions to peace and clarifying the truth.
In November 2022, don bern he sent a letter to the national government in which he insisted on his repatriation. In that letter, he demanded that in order to fully fulfill his role as peace facilitator, he be relocated to a place of confinement where he can speak easily.
Regarding this, on multiple occasions several of the ex-paramilitaries who were extradited and who want to contribute to peace have warned that they have been threatened not to talk about the issues that could bring to light several names that are not yet known and that were part of the exacerbation of the conflict in the country.
Lawyer Michel Pineda, representative of the paramilitary leader, assured in dialogue with the w that the issue of extradition became a way of kidnapping the truth:
“For example, the Prosecutor’s Office on many occasions considers excluding the Justice and Peace postulates, arguing that they do not want to contribute to peace, because they do not attend virtual hearings, without understanding that there are problems in American prisons and in institutions or there are no fair conditions either, ”he explained to the aforementioned media.
In this sense, he reiterated that the paramilitary has all the will to contribute to the country, for which reason he sent the letter to the Petro administration making his requests and demonstrating that he wants to contribute with everything he knows to be part of the “total peace” process. and that they are awaiting a response from the office of the High Commissioner for Peace.
