Photos from Colombia Vive's series of events featuring human rights lawyer Pillar Castillo and Flor Hilda Hernandez. Hernandez' oldest son, Elkin Gustavo, is one of the most well-known victims of the Colombian Army's "body count scandal."

In 2008, Elkin Gustavo and 18 other young men left the Bogotá suburb of Soacha for what they thought was a fortunate job opportunity in the northeast of the country. However, the next time anyone saw these 19 men was in images released by the army, which claimed they had belonged to subversive groups and been killed in combat.

This story, which dominated the headlines in Colombia in late 2008, confirmed what Human Rights groups had been saying for years: that many of the supposed bodies of guerrilla fighters displayed by the army as proof of their progress against the insurgency, as actually civilians disguised with combat uniforms. Especially under a program that rewards soldiers with generous benefits for each rebel fighter they kill, the incentive to do this is high. Investigations are now underway into 2-3,000 killings that appear to have been "false positives," as they are referred to in Colombian Army jargon.

Flor Hilda and Pilar were in Boston from October 9-16. They were joined at an event in Tufts University by Hollman Morris, the award-winning journalist who produces the investigative series Contravía and has investigated this and many other human rights abuses by the Colombian state.