Nearly 62,000 Colombians disappeared: Ombudsman
Tuesday, 30 August 2011 07:48
Travis Mannon
Nearly 62,000 people have been disappeared in Colombia, announced the country's ombudsman on Tuesday, the International Day of the Disappeared.
The Commission for the Search for Disappeared Persons, a division of the Ombudsman Office, reported that the number of disappeared people has risen to 61,604, an almost 30% increase from the 47,757 people reported in June 2010. According to the findings, that number consists of more than 47,000 men and nearly 14,500 women.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called attention to the tragic situation in Colombia in a press communique on the eve of the International Day of the Disappeared. According to the ICRC, "people on all sides of a conflict are affected. Civilians, military personnel, or members of armed groups may be killed in fighting or made to disappear as part of an effort to spread fear in a community."
Guilhem Ravier, the ICRC's expert on missing and disappeared persons in Colombia, believes that the will exists to help people bring closure to families, but the exhausting paperwork and sheer multitude of disappeared people exacerbates the problem.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/18654-nearly-62000-colombians-missing-ombudsman.html