For the past three years, April 9th has become an important date to recognize more than 6 million victims of the armed conflict in Colombia. This year, hundreds of Colombians again went to the streets, to mark the National Day of Memory and Solidarity with Victims, as established by Law 1448 –also known as the Victims Law. Across the country, citizens reaffirmed their pledge of sin olvido –to never forget. While the government and the FARC continue to negotiate to put an end to an armed conflict that has lasted for more than 50 years, demonstrators voiced their demands for justice, truth and reparation to be a part of the plans for peace.

“April 9th is a day to recall that the tragic history of our country is part of our collective memory of pain,” says María Camila Moreno, director of ICTJ’s Colombia program. “We should see and listen to the multitude of voices, memories, and strengths of victims and survivors.”

Colombians arrived in Bogotá from various regions of the country and from different ethnic backgrounds –afrocolombians, indigenous and non-indigenous alike– came together to be part of the day’s events, organized by the Colombian Congress, the National Center for Historical Memory, the Victims Unit and other institutional and civil society organizations from the regions. The day started with the opening of the exhibition Conflict in High Resolution (Conflicto en Alta Resolución) in which Colombian youth conveyed memories of the conflict through plastic sculptures and other visual art.

In recognition of the day, Colombia’s Congress hosted a special session in which victims of the conflict participated. At the event, President Juan Manuel Santos addressed the audience: “To attain peace is the most valuable achievement of any society. In the case of Colombia, a country that has suffered so much because of the violence, it has an even greater value.”

In addition, people marched through the in the streets of the capital following the so called “Memory Route,” beginning at the National Park and ending in Plaza de Bolivar, in the city center. Many marchers carried photographs of relatives that were killed or disappeared, faces in a sea of white flags, symbols of the demand for peace. Many of the demonstrators held banners calling for justice and reparation for victims.

“The National Memory Day is not a simple claim, nor a call for sentimentalism: it is, above all, a reparative act, aimed at the reconstruction of civic trust,” said Moreno.