Country: Colombia Source: Amnesty International A year ago, the Colombian government approved Law 2364 of 2024, recognizing the work and rights of women searchers for victims of enforced disappearance. National and international social organizations are calling on the government to make progress on its implementation.According to official sources, between 100,000 and 200,000 persons have been forcibly disappeared in Colombia. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has recorded that even today one person disappears every 36 hours in the country. Their loved ones dedicate their lives to search for them in the midst of violence. Most of those searching are women.Amnesty International acknowledges that Colombia marked a first in the world when it approved this law, but a year has now gone by, and implementation is still pending. Organizations of women searchers such as the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation emphasize that the risks and threats involved in searching make progress in the implementation of the law a matter of urgency.Bogotá, 18 June 2025. A year ago, the Colombian government passed Law 2364 of 2024, which recognizes and provides for the integral protection of the work and rights of women searchers for victims of enforced disappearance. The Congress of the Republic debated and approved this law following the advocacy initiative of organizations of women searchers throughout the country. Amnesty International joined the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation and the many other organizations of women searchers for forcibly disappeared persons in Colombia to demand that the law be implemented and the promise of state protection for the women who dedicate their lives to searching for their loved ones in the midst of violence be upheld.Although social organizations acknowledge the importance of Colombia having a law that recognizes and protects women searchers, it is concerning that the timelines provided for its implementation have not yet been met one year on. The law mandated the government to issue a regulatory decree on the participation of women searchers in developing, applying and evaluating public peace policies within three months from its entry into force. It also granted the Ministry of Health and Social Protection a period of six months for regulating access to age-related health and social protection programmes for women searchers, and the ministries of Internal Affairs and Equality the same period for promoting prevention and protection measures to ensure their safety. Finally, the law mandated that the government develop regulations for a Single Register of Women Searchers – to be managed by the Victims Unit (UARIV) – within one year, but such register has not yet been created.The Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation and Amnesty International have emphasized that it is crucial that the regulations governing the law, which are currently being developed, are finalized and implemented, as significant risks persist in the search for disappeared persons.The crisis of enforced disappearances in Colombia and the challenge of searchingAt the time Law 2364 of 2024 was approved, the Unit for the Search for Disappeared Persons (UBPD) had recorded more than 111,000 disappeared persons in Colombia, while the final report of the Truth Commission (CEV) estimated that some 210,000 persons had been forcibly disappeared between 1985 and 2016. Between December 2016 and July 2024, the ICRC documented a further 1,730 cases of disappearance linked to the armed conflict and violence: one every 36 hours. Many people dedicate their lives to search for their loved ones who have been disappeared, in some cases for decades. Experience shows that the majority of searchers are women.“Searching for a loved one is life changing. It requires looking everywhere for information, with no help from the authorities and no sensitivity to the pain of searching for a loved one who has disappeared,” said Yanette Bautista, director of the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation for Human Rights. At the age of 27, she had to leave her job and dedicate her life to searching for her sister, Nydia Erika, who was abducted in Bogotá in 1987 by members of the Colombian army and forcibly disappeared. “It’s not just difficult, it is also dangerous. From the very beginning, I was threatened for asking about my sister. Even today, almost 40 years later, I still get harassed for demanding justice.”Searching for a loved one is life changing. It requires looking everywhere for information, with no help from the authorities and no sensitivity to the pain of searching for a loved one who has disappeared.Yanette Bautista, director of the Nydia Erika Bautista FoundationOn 9 June 2025, Yanette became the first woman searcher to be officially named a victim by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) for the forcible disappearance of her sister, in macro cases 08 and 11 on crimes (including gender-based violence) committed in the context of the armed conflict by state forces.A continental problemYanette Bautista’s story is representative of thousands of women searchers throughout Colombia and, indeed, the Americas. “Enforced disappearance is a serious human rights violation which affects the whole continent and continues to this day. From the military regimes of the Southern Cone, to the armed conflicts in South and Central America and the countries today affected by an increase in authoritarian practices, crimes against humanity and organized crime, people are disappeared, causing their families pain and uncertainty for years and even decades,” stated Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International.“The enforced disappearance of a person changes the lives of their loved ones. Throughout the continent, we see people, mainly women, who dedicate their lives to searching. They not only want to know where their loved ones are, they also want justice. They want society to know the truth about the violence they are experiencing and for this type of abuse to end. Women searchers defend the human rights of us all,” added Ana Piquer.The enforced disappearance of a person changes the lives of their loved ones. Throughout the continent, we see people, mainly women, who dedicate their lives to searching.Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International.In December 2024, Amnesty International presented its report “Transforming pain into rights: Risks, threats and attacks on women searchers in Colombia” in Bogotá’s Colón Theatre. The report documents the reality lived by the women who dedicate their lives to searching for the victims of enforced disappearance in Colombia. It highlights the importance of society acknowledging these women and of the authorities guaranteeing their rights, given the serious obstacles they face as they demand truth and justice. The report recognizes that Law 2364 of 2024 is a significant step forward, but states that it is meaningless if society and the authorities are not aware of this law and do not put the recognition and protection of women searchers into practice.According to organizations such as Amnesty International and the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation, women searchers in Colombia suffer stigmatization; physical violence frequently associated with gender-based violence, harassment and threats, which in some cases forces them to flee the country and live in exile; impoverishment due to having to dedicate their lives to searching, which involves costs and difficulties for employment, as well as having to sustain their families; and impunity, perhaps the most serious of them all. Most of the legal procedures for enforced disappearance in the country, and the violence suffered by women searchers, continue to wait for justice after many years.Law 2364 of 2024 officially recognizes the work of women searchers and requires that attacks against them are prevented and that they are protected from the stigmatization and violence they experience. It also establishes that local and national authorities must pay special attention to their rights to health, social protection, housing and education, all of which are affected when violence forces them to dedicate their lives to searching for a loved one. The law also includes measures to combat impunity and promote truth and non-recurrence.For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact press@amnesty.org.