A history of enforced disappearances in the Americas

Enforced disappearances are widespread in the Americas. It is a problem that has troubled the region for decades. In the 1960s and 1970s, a wave of repression in the context of internal conflicts and military juntas swept the region. The governments that formed as a result became known for their iron-fist rule and would ‘disappear’ anyone who spoke out against them or that they considered as a threat.  

This way, they could silence dissent without drawing attention to a situation by giving people a fair trial. These practices are human rights violations, but also crimes under international law.  

States weren’t the only parties who used disappearances against their opponents. Anyone who spoke out against nonstate actors, like criminal gangs or armed groups also faced the danger of being kidnapped, tortured or murdered.  

Police and others in positions of responsibility to investigate these disappearances would look the other way, either because of their complicity, corruption or out of fear of what could happen to them if they dared find out the truth.  

Unrest and power vacuums

The systematic use of enforced disappearances arose out of a terrorizing set of circumstances across the Americas during the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century.

In some cases, violent and governments led by military juntas took control, ignited social unrest and cracked down on any opposition, as in the cases of Argentina and Chile. In other cases, like Colombia and Peru, weak state institutions, armed conflict and sociopolitical violence created political power vacuums that allowed nonstate actors, like criminal groups and militias to claim power and promote their own interests. This series of power grabs had a devastating impact on everyday people, who were the targets of countless human rights violations, including enforced disappearances.

The context of armed conflict allowed authorities to develop a harmful narrative that their efforts to silence the opposition were legitimate because they served ‘public safety’. They would imply that the forcibly disappeared, and those connected to them, were criminals and somehow deserved what happened to them. In many cases, the ‘court of public opinion’ would determine who was innocent or guilty, instead of an actual fair trial.

This rendering of events allowed authorities and nonstate actors to continue committing human rights violations with less scrutiny.

Enforced disapperances in the Americas today

Despite the introduction of legal mechanisms to curb these violations, at both the international and regional level, enforced disappearances are still commonplace throughout the Americas today.

States are still failing to adequately respond to cases of enforced disappearances.

Many affected countries lack effective public policy that protects human rights which are violated by enforced disappearances. There are few measures in place to prevent enforced disappearances from happening or lead comprehensive investigations to locate the forcibly disappeared and hold all those suspected of criminal responsibility to account.

As such, states are falling short on their obligations to protect human rights.

Challenges faced by women searchers

When the state fails to uphold its obligations, it falls on the families and loved ones of the forcibly disappeared to carry the burden of searching for them. They are human rights defenders fighting for justice, truth and reparation. These powerful movements for change are often led by women, who take on challenging roles to fill the gaps left when authorities’ look the other way.

Instead of being celebrated and protected, these women searchers are instead attacked, vilified, discredited and even criminalized for defending human rights. For these women, searching for a loved one may lead to assassinations, sexual violence, enforced disappearance and threats.

They are the targets of smear campaigns that not only make it difficult to continue their human rights work, but also impact almost every other aspect of their lives. People lose friends, are shunned by their community and left isolated, all because they dared to find answers about the fates of the disappeared.

Violence and assassinations

More human rights defenders are murdered in the Americas than any other region. This environment presents a very real and worrying threat to women searching for the disappeared.

Women searchers and their families are forced to live in fear of those who wish to silence them. They regularly receive threats of violence, including sexual violence. Families are often forced to flee the country due to threats of violence. For example, years after Nydia Erika Bautista forcibly disappeared in Colombia, her family had to escape the country so they could continue pushing for justice and accountability.

In the worst cases, these threats of violence materialise into violent attacks and even assassinations. Between 2019 and 2024, 16 searchers were killed for their human rights work in Mexico alone, 13 of which were women. Likewise, one women searcher was disappeared.

Gender-based discrimination

Gender dynamics often present women searchers with even more obstacles to overcome in their pursuit of justice. In fact, one of the main reasons that so many searchers are women is because of cultural expectations that position them as caretakers.

Women searchers face repeated obstacles and threats to their personal safety due to gender discrimination. They encounter stigma through their interactions with authorities, who try to belittle and alienate searchers almost as soon as they indicate that someone has gone missing.

Patriarchal and misogynistic cultural norms also influence the ways women searchers are targeted with violence or threats of violence. They often receive threats of sexual and other gender-based violence from those who wish to silence them.

Economic challenges

Poverty and enforced disappearances are intwined issues. People living in poverty are more vulnerable to be forcibly disappeared. Once they go missing, their family members face even more economic burdens to make ends meet. As such, enforced disappearance can also be a violation of the families economic, social and cultural rights. 

These difficult economic hardships need to be considered when looking at the various human rights violations that women searchers face. They are not only leading the fight for justice for their loved one but also must find out how to manage caregiving responsibilities and providing for the family in their loved one’s absence.

Women searchers often experience severe health conditions such as hypertension, chronic fatigue and other symptoms of stress, anguish and depression.

States have obligations to provide reparations, social assistance and rehabilitation to the families of forcibly disappeared persons.

What is Amnesty International doing to help?

We are committed to calling for better protections for women searchers in the Americas and demanding that states support them in finding justice, truth and reparation for their loved ones.

We’ve outlined a legal framework which explains states responsibilities to women searchers. This includes recognition of their status as human rights defenders and their right to search for the disappeared without facing discrimination.

Our campaign #SearchingWithoutFear is in collaboration with the women leading this work. We’re hoping to build a future where these inspiring women are celebrated for their work to end enforced disappearances in the Americas. We’re working to raise awareness of the challenges they face and highlight states’ responsibilities, so these women can continue the important work defending human rights.