“For me, they are not dead. They are alive. They beat in our hearts.” – Fedor Muñoz, brother of assassinated professor Hugo Muñoz

Under an unforgiving sun, I left the cemetery of El Angel late last Saturday afternoon. As of today, I have yet to shake the images of La Cantuta.

While filming my experience with the relatives of Cantuta, my ability to look dispassionately through the square lens of my digital camera was often tested. Everywhere I turned, I felt surrounded by a penetrating display of raw emotion – heartbreaking sadness, intense fierceness, and subdued acceptance. Over three days, I witnessed the culmination of a 16-year fight for justice – and in the process, I put the camera down, freeing myself from the distance felt behind the lens to join hands, shout chants, and become a part of the experience.

Last Thursday, relatives of Cantuta came to the EPAF office to spend a final moment with the remains of their loved ones. Joined by a host of different human rights organizations, including the Network for the Development of the Child and the Family (REDINFA), relatives shared amongst each other the stories of who their loved ones were and the memories that had never been forgotten. For Carmen Amaro, sister of assassinated student Armando Amaro Cóndor, it was her brother’s love for Sikuri, music native to the Andean highlands, that reminded her of him.

Watch Thursday’s special ceremony at the EPAF office …