Press Release, Bogotá, March 17, 2022
The Faculty of Science and Education of the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas invites the media and society in general to attend the solemn ceremony: honorary degree to the student of Cadastral Engineering Alfredo Rafael Sanjuán Arévalo, arrested and disappeared on March 8, 1982, who is part of the Colectivo 82 case.
In 1982, thirteen (13) people were forcibly detained-disappeared by agents of the F-2 and private individuals in the urban area of Bogotá and Gachalá del Estado, among them: eight (8) students (from different careers at the public universities La Distrital and La Nacional de Colombia), three (3) peasants, one (1) tailor and one (1) mechanic. One of the students is Alfredo Rafael Sanjuán Arévalo who was in his 9th semester of Cadastral Engineering at the Universidad Distrital and will receive his professional degree. Due to the connotation of massive, systematic and organized forced disappearance in the country, this Collective 82 is formed to make visible the historical persecution against the student movement.
This case of Colectivo 82 is emblematic for the country because it marks the beginning of the historical struggle of families searching for their loved ones who were forcibly disappeared and the creation of ASFADDES, the first Association of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in the country. This persistence has allowed the organization and social movement to have mechanisms and tools that guarantee the rights to search, truth, justice, reparation and non-repetition.
With the slogan “until they are found” (hasta encontrarlos), the families have traveled a tortuous road that has meant the disappearance of their loved ones.
For the families, for us as an academy, for the people, organizations and institutions that have accompanied this case, it is an important moment to tell, because it dignifies the living memory of those who today are missing. The event will take place in the auditorium Mayor Hermanos Sanjuán (name given to commemorate the students detained and forcibly disappeared), which will be the setting for the reunion between some of the families of the 13 people detained and forcibly disappeared in 1982..
Teresa, Eduvina, Mariela and Yolanda Sanjuán Arévalo, who inherited the search of their parents, will be the persons in charge of receiving the diploma of the student Alfredo Sanjuán Arévalo. It is worth noting that this is the second of a series of events to be held this year, which aims to install in the collective memory of the country, this fact is a crime against humanity that does not stop in Colombia.
From the Universidad Distrital we are committed to the visibility and support of the work that the families of Colectivo 82 and all those who have loved ones who have been forcibly disappeared have been undertaking for years. For this reason we assume an active role with the social commitment that as an academy we have in order to ensure that these events are not repeated.
In this link you can watch the previous event: https://fb.watch/bP2Dw_TJ4J/
Get to know the agenda:
3:00 – 5:00 pm Honorary degree to Alfredo Rafael Sanjuán Arévalo, student of Cadastral Engineering at Universidad Distrital, forcibly disappeared on March 8, 1982.
Place: Universidad Distrital, Sede La Macarena A, carrera 3 # 26 A – 40
5:00 – 6:00 pm Carnation March from the Universidad Distrital to the Colpatria Tower
6:00 – 8:00 pm A wake and projection at the Colpatria Tower on the 13 people detained and disappeared between March and September 1982.
We invite you to bring your candle and a white carnation.
#Collective82MemoryAndTruth
#Colectivo82MemoriaYVerdad
