Enforced disappearance is an international crime, a human rights violation, an endless tragedy, and permanent pain. The family member of a disappeared person will always know exactly how many days their loved one has been absent, and each day they imagine possible and impossible scenarios. Continue reading “Not Alive or Dead: Disappeared”
Tag Archives: Enforced disappearance
An act of living memory
It is 6am and a group of people gather in the Plaza Bolívar in Bogotá. A few cover the floor of the Plaza with plastic, earth and plants whilst others do warm-up exercises. Continue reading An act of living memory
Operation Orion
The Corporation for Judicial Freedom (CJL) represents relatives of the victims of Operation Orion which, according to the National Centre for Reparation and Reconciliation, was “the largest urban military operation ever to take place in Colombia”,[1] which left one person dead, 28 injured and 355 arrested.[2] Continue reading Operation Orion
Enforced disappearances in La Esperanza
Between 21st June and 27th December 1996, the paramilitary group Autodefensas Campesinas del Magdalena Medio (ACMM) disappeared 16 people, including three children, in the hamlet of La Esperanza in the municipality of El Carmen de Viboral (Eastern Antioquia), having labelled them as collaborators of the illegal armed groups that operated in the area. Continue reading Enforced disappearances in La Esperanza
La Escombrera
According to testimony from witnesses and some former paramilitaries, La Escombrera, a vast area situated in the higher parts of the Medellin’s District 13, was used to dump construction waste and for “the clandestine burials of victims of enforced disappearances”. Continue reading La Escombrera