Syria: Justice must continue for families of missing persons after the defeat of Da’esh

Following a DNA identification of remains which confirmed the death of Da’esh leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,  the Guardian emphasized that families across Syria are still looking for missing relatives. “Isis is gone and its leader has been killed but people are still waiting to find out the fate of their children”, a Syrian citizen who helps in identifying human remains from Da’esh mass graves stated. https://bit.ly/2Woru52

Colombia: Enforced disappearances of indigenous people to be integrated into the searching process of missing persons

As part of its dialogue with indigenous people, the Unit for the Search of Disappeared Persons in Colombia has developed a protocol which includes ethnic groups in the searching process, El Tiempo reports. An agreement has been made to develop a plan leading to the completion of a national census of missing indigenous persons, which…

Mexico: mass grave close to US border

After an initial discovery of 12 sets of human remains, 15 more bodies have been found in a mass grave near Puerto Penasco in the Mexican state of Sonora, just south of the border with the US state of Arizona, the International Business Times reports. The special investigation group that found the grave consists of relatives of missing persons. https://bit.ly/2WlYhrO

Central America & Mexico: forensic database of missing migrants

Since 2010 the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team has identified 200 migrants who disappeared and died while trying to reach the US, through a network of forensic databases in Central America and Mexico, Primera Edicion reports. The project has documented 1,957 cases by bringing authorities and civil society together (Original article in Spanish). https://bit.ly/34cPpaB

Bosnia and Herzegovina: more wartime victims identified

Ten wartime victims whose remains were exhumed from Mount Igman near Sarajevo on 5 June have…

Pakistan: “thousands of detainees could be freed”

A recent ruling by a provincial high court in Pakistan could prompt the authorities to release or present to courts thousands of victims of forced disappearances, according to an article carried by the Gandhara news portal, which focuses on Afghanistan and Pakistan. It notes that people detained in Pakistan on suspicion of “anti-state” activities are rarely brought to court. Although some detainees have been released following legal action or protests, “thousands remain missing”, a situation that may now change. https://bit.ly/365bhX7

Spain: “the second country in the world with most disappearances”

Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Carmen Calvo, said this week that the present situation regarding those who went missing as a result of the 1936-30 Civil War is “intolerable for a full democracy like ours”, El Independente reports. She was speaking on the occasion of the transfer of the body of former dictator Francisco Franco…

Commemorating victims of the Spanish Civil War

The BBC reports on issues related to the exhumation of the human remains of former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, including work now underway across Spain to exhume and identify victims buried in clandestine graves during and after the 1936-39 Civil War.  A 1977 Amnesty Law prevents any criminal investigation into the Franco years, while a 2007 Historical Memory Law recognizes victims on both sides and provides some help for surviving victims of Franco’s dictatorship and their families. More than 100,000 victims of the conflict, and the repression carried out afterwards, are still missing. https://bbc.in/2JiOYnb

Mexico: President reaffirms commitment to accounting for the missing

El Nuevo herald reports on a ceremony this week in the Mexican Senate, to confer an award on 92-year-old human rights activist Rosario Ibarra de Piedra, who reacted by symbolically presenting the award to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador with the…