Tag Archives: Forced disappearance

Women Searching for Victims of Enforced Disappearance Await Dignity

The time has come for Colombia to support the efforts of women and others searching for victims of enforced disappearance. Women suffer very serious human rights violations while, individually or collectively, searching for loved ones, including sexual violence, kidnapping, privation of liberty, extortion, threats, and reprisals.

The leadership role is not recognized by society or even the Colombian state, which is often, “a spoke in the wheel” of compliance on existing laws relative to enforced disappearance. “In many cases, officials do not fulfill their job due to negligence, indifference and indolence,” say women searchers.

According to the Search Unit for Disappeared Persons (UBPD in Spanish), the armed conflict has generated over 99,000 disappeared persons in Colombia. According to the National Attorney General’s Office, 99% of cases of enforced disappearance remain in total impunity.

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“Bring them back alive, because they were taken alive”

The struggle of women in search of their loved ones, victims of enforced disappearance

So many years have gone by since my son was disappeared. Although time goes by, months and years, I won’t stop searching for him or the truth about what happened. Those of us mothers who search for our disappeared loved ones, we don’t see obstacles, we don’t hear discouraging voices; we are strong women with our eyes set on the horizon, searching for those who were taken from us; we are thousands of mothers searching for truth, a body to cry over, and more than anything… that this doesn’t happen again”.

Continue reading “Bring them back alive, because they were taken alive”

“Of the 1,151 municipalities in Colombia, only 66 have not registered forced disappearances”: Erik Arellana

From 30 August 1987, the day that changed Erik Arellana Bautista’s life forever, and then became one of the most well-known activists against forced disappearance in Colombia, and of the impacts of this crime, as he is the son of Nydia Erika Bautista. Continue reading “Of the 1,151 municipalities in Colombia, only 66 have not registered forced disappearances”: Erik Arellana

“Not Alive or Dead: Disappeared”

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”