- According to official figures, the number of victims of enforced disappearance in Colombia may exceed 200,000.
- Women Searchers organizations like the Nydia Erica Bautista Foundation are examples of perseverance and the ordeal of those who speak out against enforced disappearances and dedicate their lives to finding their loved ones.
- Amnesty International highlights the approval of Law 2364 of 2024, which protects the rights of female searchers, and calls on the Colombian government to commit to its implementation.
Bogotá, December 3, 2024. Amnesty International releases report Turning pain into power: risks, threats and attacks About Colombia’s Female Searchers at Teatro Colón in Bogota. The report documents the realities experienced by Colombian women who have dedicated their lives to finding victims of enforced disappearance, and the need for society to recognize these women and for authorities to guarantee their rights, as they face serious obstacles in accessing their claims.
The report is part of Amnesty International’s #SearchingWithoutFear campaign, launched across the Americas on 30 August – the International Day for Victims of Enforced Disappearances – calling for the recognition and protection of female searchers across the continent.
According to reports, the scale of enforced disappearances in Colombia is shocking. As of 2024, the Search for Persons Considered Missing Unit has identified 111,640 victims of enforced disappearance. One considers a phenomenon based on deception and concealment.
“In Colombia, women have played a leading role in identifying victims of enforced disappearance and in creating and leading organizations for relatives of victims of enforced disappearance,” said Ana Piquer, Amnesty International’s Americas Director, adding, “ Mothers, wives, sisters and daughters are the ones most affected by this crime. They are the ones who speak out against this phenomenon and make it visible. They are the ones who take the lead in demanding the right to truth and justice. They are the ones who fight against the guilty. The most serious consequences have been suffered in the fight against impunity.
Colombian women take leading role in locating victims of enforced disappearance and creating and leading organizations for relatives of victims of enforced disappearance […] Mothers, wives, sisters and daughters are the most affected by this crime. They are the ones who speak out against this phenomenon and make it a reality, the ones who take the lead in demanding the right to truth and justice, and the ones who suffer the worst consequences in the fight against impunity.
Ana Piquer, Amnesty International Americas Director.
Risks, threats and attacks faced by female searchers
The report documents the experiences of the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation (FNEB), an organization born out of the struggle for truth and justice following the enforced disappearance of Nydia Erika Bautista at the hands of the Colombian army on 30 August 1987. The report details the experiences of Yanette Bautista, Nydia Erika’s sister and FNEB director and founder, and Andrea Bautista, Nydia Erika’s niece, FNEB deputy director and head of the legal department. Their testimonies mirror those of thousands of female searchers in Colombia.
Colombia’s female searchers suffer stigmatization Their human dignity is violated in public discourse and they suffer discrimination and reputational damage as a result of complaints. they are subject to physical violenceIn the case of female searchers, this situation is unique and causes varying degrees of damage because it is intertwined with gender-based violence, vulnerability to sexual violence, and ongoing violence against women that permeates their search In the process of killing a loved one.
Female searchers in Colombia also endure ongoing threatensome of whom were forced to flee the country and live in exile. Threats, harassment and intimidation are common and systematic in the pursuit of truth and justice following enforced disappearances.
information theft and Invade personal space These phenomena are also common and impair the ability of female searchers to do their jobs, especially to preserve memories of searches over many years. Yanette Bautista described it this way: “They stole our past and they stole our future.”
However, female searchers in Colombia suffer consequences beyond violence, as they are also particularly vulnerable to violence. poverty. According to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, this is a factor that increases vulnerability to enforced or involuntary disappearances.
After a disappearance, the economic, social and cultural rights of relatives, loved ones and communities of the missing person are seriously affected.
Finally, one of the most important issues faced by female seekers is impunityrelates not only to the lack of justice for the vast majority of enforced disappearances in Colombia, but also to the violence experienced by those searching for their loved ones and loved ones, which is not adequately investigated.
Women Searchers Law: Hope for Victims
Against this depressing background, the Amnesty International report underlines the importance of the Colombian Congress’s approval in June of Law 2364 of 2024, which provides for the employment and rights of women seeking victims of enforced disappearance in the country. Full recognition and protection are provided. The law offers hope that the search for victims of enforced disappearance can be conducted in safe and dignified conditions.
In its report, Amnesty International proposed ways to monitor the implementation of the law, focusing on 22 commitments grouped into four main areas: 1) Recognizing women searchers and their work and preventing stigmatization, 2) Protecting women searchers protection from attacks and threats, 3) safeguarding the rights to education, housing and health of women searchers and their families, and 4) measures to combat impunity and establish the truth.
Amnesty International believes that “if properly implemented, Law 2364 of 2024 has the potential to protect the rights of female searchers and help address the Colombian government’s historical debt to them”. Furthermore, Colombia could become a benchmark in the Americas, a region where there are many examples of enforced disappearances and of women who have overcome difficulties in search of truth and justice.
Organizations such as Amnesty International and the Nydia Erica Bautista Foundation believe the Colombian government must work to fulfill its commitments to victims of enforced disappearances, including female searchers. The implementation of this law is a good opportunity to move forward.
Report Turning pain into power: risks, threats and attacks faced by female searchers in Colombia Launched at Bogota’s historic Teatro Colón. This event also held a conference titled “ Search for a woman’s face (search for a woman’s face) and drama life without work (in absentia), by female searchers of victims of enforced disappearance.
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