RELEVANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE CASE
LANGUAGE
MARIO SAID
“I want to forget Colombia forever. Colombia is not safe for me anymore. I don't want to set foot in this country or at the UN anymore. It's not for me. I asked for a change of location some time ago and they did not give it to me. I want a new life, away from everything”.
THE LAST PHONE CALLS BETWEEN MARIO PACIOLLA AND HIS MOTHER
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"Mom, I am very worried. I don't like how things are going here. I have to leave as soon as possible, there is something strange. I got into big trouble. I hope to find a ticket to return as soon as possible.
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11/07/2020: "I feel dirty, I want to wash myself in the sea of Naples" (n.b. the day after his discussion with his boss).
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"Mom, whatever they are going to say about me, please do not believe them"
MARIO'S MOTHER REPORTS THAT
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"I only know that since Friday 10, last week, my son was in a state of great suffering". (N.B. On July 10 Mario had a strong discussion with his bosses, as also mentioned by the journalist Duque in her article "Mario Paciolla: justicia para un poeta", after which he declared that he "got into big trouble").
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Since the beginning of March Mario has lived in lockdown and worked in smart-working. He had contacts only with people belonging to his organization.
COLOMBIAN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST JULIETA DUQUE, FRIEND OF MARIO, REPORTS THAT
• Weeks ago Mario had removed the padlock that closed the access gate to the attic of the small building where he lived, as a prevention if "someone" came looking for him.
• Mario last connected to Whatsapp on 07/14/2020 at 10:45 pm (N.B. The death certificate states that Mario died at 2 am by violent death on 07/15/2020).
• During the third week of June, during an informal meeting in Florencia - the capital of Caquetà, where the Regional Office of the UN Mission that also controls the Caguan office operates, a colleague accused Mario of being a spy.
• Mario expressed his disapproval about the way in which the UN Mission was handling the pandemic. While some officials were authorized to travel and given possibility of teleworking, volunteers had to stay in isolation (confinement at home) and solitude.
• Mario was annoyed by the shallowness of the tones used by UN in some of its reports and did not like the complex relationship of some members of the UN Mission with the Public Force, the contracting of civilians who came from military ranks, the passivity of that organization with respect to the bombing of civilians in the south of the Meta region (bordering on Caquetà) and the rise in selective killings of former FARC fighters.
• On July 15 (the day he was killed) Mario was meant to travel to Bogota and on July 20 he would board a humanitarian flight bound for Italy
• Sergio Pirabal, head of the regional office, may have responsibilities as he did not take sufficient precautions to protect Mario.
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Mario showed his disapproval towards the fact that UN, in its quarterly report of 2019, mentioned only with a short paragraph of six lines the military bombing in which 18 minors forcibly recruited by FARC dissidents died. Some of these were executed with coups de grace by Columbian army despite being wounded and unarmed. This event caused the then Defense Minister Guillermo Botero to leave the scene.
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There is "absolute secret" commitment in Italy regarding the transfer of Mario Paciolla's body to his native land.
According to her opinion, these things only happen when a great power feels a great fear that the truth is known.
FRIENDS OF MARIO REPORT THAT
• Mario didn't mind staying at home for the lockdown as he was not comfortable in the workplace ("too divergent ideas about the working methods") and, in doing so, he could have focused on writing short stories.
• Mario's house in San Vicente del Caguan was at least 1.5km from the first inhabited road.
MARIO'S EX-GIRLFRIEND SAID THAT
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Mario was in a very bad state of mind on July 14 and felt he was being spied on. Also, he did not trust anymore the UN security officer Christian Thompson and his work colleagues, and she was the only one who trusted.
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They had a Skype Call on July 14 at 11pm where he was begging her to go back to Napoli with him. On the same day, he also told her "he did not want to live anymore" and he was screaming and crying during the day.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE CASE
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The autopsy is having unusually long times (more than 14 days) and was performed by a doctor indicated by the UN, without the expert of part of the Paciolla family being able to participate.
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The murder was initially labeled by the Colombian authorities as "hanging suicide", a fact contradicted by injuries to Mario's body caused by cutting weapons and later by the death certificate itself.
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According to his landlord Diego Hernandez, Mario had a phone call between 10 and 11pm on 14 July and he was speaking with an ablazed tone (n.b. the last Whatsapp connection was at 10:45 pm on 14 July and his death was declared at 2am of 15 July). According to a newspaper article of El Espectador written by Claudia Julieta Duque, the phone call was made by Mario to Christian Thompson, head of security in the UN Verification Mission in Colombia. According to some UN officials, the fact of making this call is alarming in itself, as it activates extraordinary alarm protocols. It is assumed that Mario could have called Christian Thompson because he felt in danger.
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Mario's landlord Diego Hernandez lived close to Mario and he stated to have heard Mario while he was having the phone call on July 14. However, he also declared he did not hear any noise during the night of the killing. In addition, he owned a copy of Mario's house keys (n.b. on the morning of July 15 he opened the door of Mario's apartment to Mario's friends).
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The lawyer who deals with the case of Mario Paciolla is Alessandra Ballerini, the same one who deals with the case of Giulio Regeni.
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According to the Italian ambassador Mariangela Zappia, the Onu staff employed in Colombia does not want to be interrogated and is not ensuring an appropriate cooperation on the issue.