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Relatives of Missing Persons are the Key Actors for the Unit of the Search for the Disappeared
In Colombia, there is a long history of searching for the disappeared and records of forced disappearance date back to the 1950s. Several actors have focused on these searches. On the one hand, the Colombian state looks for those missing, through judicial institutions and the police. On the other hand, the families of disappeared persons, who suffer deeply from the absence of their loved ones and the injustice of it, lead their own initiatives for encountering them. In both cases, searches are founded on chasing down leads, and following clues and intuitions. For the state this means implementing a systematic search with logistical and technical support. In the case of relatives, searches are more erratic, marked by deep loneliness, uncertainty and risk, but families also have the ability to imagine new forms of encounters. This snapshot analyses the commitment of transitional institutions to putting family members at the centre of their work.
The journeys of Martha Castro: Writing, drawing and listening as a means of encounter
A new series of dialogues entitled ‘Alternative possible encounters: seeing through the eyes of relatives of those who have been forcibly disappeared’, organised by our team working on the Unit for the Search of Disappeared People (UBPD).
In this first dialogue, we will speak with Martha Castro, about her experience dealing with the forced disappearance of her son, Andres Castro. We will reflect on the importance of local knowledge and symbolic strategies undertaken by the relatives of disappeared persons for society and institutions in Colombia.
The ABC of the Unit for the Search of Disappeared Persons (UBPD)
The Unit for the Search of Disappeared Persons (UBPD) is responsible for searching those people who were disappeared in the context of the armed conflict. It is one of the three institutions of the Comprehensive System for Truth, Justice, Reparations, and Non-Repetition (CSTJRN) that arose from the Peace Agreement signed in 2016. The unit was developed in response to requests by relatives of disappeared persons, and civil society organizations that were part of the peace dialogues. In particular, they asked for the establishment of an institution in charge of searching for the disappeared without discrimination on the basis of their origin, age, gender, religion, militancy, or any other factor.
The JEP Protects the Remains of the Victims of the Armed Conflict
On 11 August 2020, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) prohibited any kind of tampering in two places – La Escombrera (The Dump) and La Arenera (Sandpit), both located in the Comuna 13 area of Medellín – where victims of forced disappearances are thought to be buried. The JEP can order precautionary measures where there are good reasons for doing so in the framework of its cases. This snapshot presents the progress that the JEP has made in protecting the remains of those who disappeared during the armed conflict in Colombia.