WUNRN
Website Link on Report: Breaking the
Silence: In Search of Colombia's Disappeared
Press Release in Spanish &
English
Full Report in Spanish
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Guardian UK - http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2010/dec/09/colombia-disappeared
COLOMBIA - WOMEN IN SEARCH OF THE
DISAPPEARED - NEW REPORT
New report reveals the hidden human tragedy of the 30,000 'disappeared' in
The weathered face of Colombian farmer
Blanca Nieves Meneses is overcome by sorrow as she stands before four small
coffins. She has been looking for her daughters for 10 years, ever since they
were "disappeared" by the paramilitaries in Putumayo, south Colombia. But now all that is
left of her girls, the youngest of whom was only 13, are bones. Her only
remaining daughter, Nancy, is with her mother at the ceremony and says, between
sobs: "I never thought that this is the way they would be returned to
me."
Colombian victims of forced
disappearances, and their families, have long been overlooked. In a country
where the death toll from assassinations, massacres, criminal murders and
battlefield casualties – where there are bodies – is so high, disappearances
have remained out of focus.
Mention
disappearances in the Latin American context and most people think mainly about
In
All the armed groups have been
responsible for disappearances in
Victims' families face numerous
obstacles in their fight for truth and justice. They are stigmatised and often
portrayed as guerrillas who deserve their fate. This can often lead to the
family being threatened and forcibly displaced. This was the case for Meneses,
who waged a 10-year struggle to find her missing daughters. Right after her
daughters disappeared, she and Nancy sought help from local government
authorities. The mayor told her he was afraid to help. Finally, the two women
went directly to the paramilitary leaders, who told Meneses to "disappear
yourself if you don't want us to kill you too". In October 2001, she left
with her grandchildren for the
In many cases the main economic
providers for a family is the one who has disappeared, leaving the family in a
precarious state. While family members have the legal right to receive
assistance, they can only access it by providing a death certificate for their
missing loved one. This causes even more trauma for them as they don't know
whether their loved one is dead or alive, and if they declare them dead the
search for that person can be closed.
Consuelo de Jesus David, a poor
farmer from the province of Uraba, tells how she has struggled to provide for
her family after her husband and son were disappeared by the guerrillas 13
years ago. She received no help from the state so she began to search for her
son and husband herself. She was subsequently threatened by the guerrillas and
forced to abandon the family farm and seek refuge in the city of
The Colombian government has
developed an advanced legal framework for addressing disappearances, but this
framework is rarely effectively applied. The government has also made advances
in the search for the disappeared, creating a centralised database, conducting
exhumations and the return of remains to victims' families. But much more needs
to be done. Disappearances are far from a problem of the past. The task that
confronts