As with so many crimes of war, what happened here in…northwestern Colombia more than a decade ago might easily have been forgotten. Illegal militias forced hundreds of poor black farmers off their land, which politically connected businessmen then seized and turned into lucrative palm oil plantations. The displaced farmers…thought they would never see their land again…[T]he government recently ordered nine palm oil companies to return thousands of acres to the farmers, and the attorney general's office is investigating the firms' operators on accusations of homicide, land theft and forced displacement… Court documents and depositions show that some of the companies had close links to illegal paramilitary groups that massacred villagers…The ties…reached the top of Urapalma and…Palmas de Uraba…Palm company officials accused of having ties to the paramilitary groups did not return calls…But a former manager and lawyer for Urapalma…said Urapalma and the other companies thought the land had been acquired legally.