Special focus
The disappeared who will never be forgotten
Fifty years ago, General Pinochet seized power violently in Chile. His regime became the symbol of Latin America's military dictatorships, and the memory of thousands of its enforced disappeared remains vivid in Santiago. Since then, the crime of enforced disappearance has not left the headlines, whether it be Syria, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Libya or Colombia. Enforced disappearance is one of the great crimes of wars and dictatorships, and perhaps the most invisible. Men, women and children taken away by security forces or armed groups and never seen again, with authorities refusing to clarify their fate. Grief that never ends. Chile’s young president Gabriel Boric announced on August 30 a new national effort to find the disappeared of the dictatorship. Enforced disappearances continue to haunt the former Yugoslavia, and mark the transitional justice process under way in Colombia. They number in the tens of thousands in Syria and Sri Lanka, permeate the conflicts in Nigeria and Libya, remain an issue in Turkey, and are already in the crosshairs of Ukraine's quest for justice. Justice Info brings together its coverage of this crime in a special focus.
A Belgian court provides hope for justice in Guatemala
In December 2023, a historical trial took place in Leuven, Belgium. Five high-level officials from Guatemala’s military and political apparatus stood trial for murder, enforced disappearance and torture of Belgian missionaries in Guatemala in the eighties. And as a new president just got sworn in in Guatemala, the Belgian judgment may come at a crucial […]
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