Colombia
Colombia is a country located in South America, with a population of approximately 53 million people. For more than six decades, it has suffered the consequences of a protracted armed conflict, which has left more than 150,000 people missing, as well as a large number of bodies that remain unidentified.
Although Colombia has a robust institutional framework and a comprehensive regulatory framework to address the issue of missing persons, significant challenges remain in responding effectively to the needs, demands and expectations of the families who continue to search for their loved ones.
‘Stories that Bring Us Together’ is a co-creation project between the University of Huddersfield and the Belén de los Andaquíes Audiovisual School. Through audiovisual testimonies, the project aims to highlight the complexity involved in the search for missing persons in Colombia. These stories address different dimensions of this issue: disappearance and its impacts, the resilience and persistence of families, symbolic reparation, as well as the processes of remembrance, artistic creation and the search. This project is also underpinned by a forensic process carried out by national institutions, in particular the National Centre for Historical Memory (CNMH), between 2013 and 2018. To learn more about this process, please consult:
One of the main challenges facing the Colombian state is determining how many people are missing, who they are and where they are. The complexity of the phenomenon, the different forms of record-keeping and the specific characteristics of the armed conflict have led to varying official figures on disappearances in the country. For further information and to consult the available figures, please visit the following institutional websites:
Caquetá
Caquetá is a department situated in southern Colombia, in the Amazon region. It comprises 16 municipalities and has a population of approximately 430,000 people. According to official records, around 4,700 people are missing in the department, whilst 692 bodies remain unidentified or are located in cemeteries and other sites, including open fields.
Caquetá has historically been one of the territories most affected by the Colombian armed conflict. Its strategic location in the Amazon, the presence and territorial disputes involving various armed groups, the isolation of numerous communities and the limited state presence in some areas have turned the department into a scene of prolonged confrontation, violence and enforced disappearances.
‘Stories to Bring Us Together’ recognises and is based upon the work carried out since 2005 by the Belén de los Andaquíes Audiovisual School (EAI) in creating narratives about the region, daily life and the armed conflict, particularly from the perspectives and experiences of the children and young people in the community.
Through the school’s work, spaces for communication, creativity and connection have been created with families who have spent decades searching for their missing loved ones. It is precisely from these community-led processes of remembrance, resistance, creativity and searching that the audiovisual testimonies comprising ‘Stories that Bring Us Together’ have emerged.