With the support of USIP, EQUITAS recently produced the report, “Methodological Proposals for Documenting and Searching for Missing Persons.” Based on extensive fieldwork in Antioquia and Casanare, this publication details four innovative methods of locating and identifying the disappeared: computer simulation of water flows to track bodies that have been placed in rivers, analysis of cemetery administrative records, archeological assessment of construction debris dumps and remote sensing analysis to detect clandestine cemeteries.
EQUITAS is a Colombian nongovernmental organization focused on developing scientific approaches to investigating and documenting human rights abuses. With the support of USIP, EQUITAS recently produced the report, “Methodological Proposals for Documenting and Searching for Missing Persons.” Based on extensive fieldwork in Antioquia and Casanare, this publication details four innovative methods of locating and identifying the disappeared: computer simulation of water flows to track bodies that have been placed in rivers, analysis of cemetery administrative records, archeological assessment of construction debris dumps and remote sensing analysis to detect clandestine cemeteries. Through its work, EQUITAS helps Colombians address one of the most painful legacies of conflict, the identification of victims. Its unique methods contribute to peacebuilding by providing support to victims’ families and by providing technical guidance to Colombian government agencies.
Background
Exhumation, identification and reburial of victims of political violence have been identified worldwide as issues critical to peacebuilding after violent conflict. Colombia has one of the highest levels of forced disappearances in the world yet lacks a documentation base from which to even begin planning exhumations that will provide vital information for grieving families of missing persons. Authorities rarely identify bodies of victims buried clandestinely and remains are usually not returned to victims' families, who remain uncertain about the fate of their loved ones.
Activities
EQUITAS developed an innovative model for documenting missing persons and clandestine cemeteries in Colombia. This model, preliminarily tested in three clandestine cemeteries in Colombia—in Antioquia and Casanare—consisted of:
- Collecting existing information on missing persons
- Compiling spatial information on clandestine cemeteries
- Reconstructing which individuals may be found at which site
- Producing a model for documenting missing persons and cemeteries
- Producing periodic reports on their findings, and a final report, all of which were made available to victims' groups, nongovernmental organizations and official institutions.
PROJECT DIRECTOR: Ana María Gómez López and Drisha Fernandes, EQUITAS, Bogotá, Colombia
Explore Further
- Read a report entitled Breaking the Silence: In Search of Colombia’s Disappeared by the Latin American Working Group (LAWG)
