Colombia

During the 1990s and early 2000s Colombia was the world's largest cocaine producer, supplying 70–80% of global demand. The lucrative trade intensified an armed conflict involving the FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army), now extinct after the 2016 peace agreement; the ELN (National Liberation Army); paramilitary groups such as the AUC, right-wing armed structures that emerged and operated in close articulation with political and economic elites; and drug cartels and gangs exploiting the chaos to control routes and neighbourhoods.

Comuna 13 in Medellín was distinguished from other parts of Colombia by the direct and violent presence of the state through large-scale military interventions. Operation Mariscal (2000–2001) was a prolonged military campaign officially justified as an effort to root out guerrilla groups; in practice it brought massive combat operations, human rights violations, extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances and civilian casualties.

Operation Orión (October 2002), a large-scale offensive by the Colombian Army supported politically by the government, was declared to dismantle armed groups in Comuna 13. Lasting nearly two weeks, it resulted in dozens of deaths, disappearances and widespread fear, with civilians trapped between crossfire.

Comuna 13 is also marked by La Escombrera, one of the largest open-air mass graves in the world, where victims of forced disappearance have been exhumed and identified. It stands as a painful reminder of the crimes committed and of the ongoing struggle for truth and justice.