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Where are your loved ones right now?
Where would you go if a person you love disappears?
Where would you start looking for them?
Where?

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International Day of the Victims of Forced Disappearances

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What is enforced disappearance? Some definitions

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What is enforced disappearance? Some definitions

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People literally disappear, from their loved ones and their community, when state officials (or someone acting with state consent) grab them from the street or from their homes and then deny it, or refuse to say where they are. It is a crime under international law. (Amnesty)

The arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law. (UN)

It occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or polititcal organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate and whereabouts, with the intent of placing the victim outside the protection of the law. (Wikipedia)

Videla´s point of view

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On the morning of 1 August 2017, members of the Argentine National Gendarmerie (GNA) entered irregularly and violently into the territory of the Mapuche community Pu Lof en Resistencia, in the department of Cushamen, in Chubut, Argentina. According to the community, the GNA fired lead and rubber bullets, and burned many families’ possessions. In addition, Santiago Maldonado, a 28 year-old activist who arrived the day before to assist the community in its suit to reclaim tribal lands, has gone missing since the operation began. He was last seen on 1 August, while fleeing from the GNA raid. According to eyewitness, about 30 uniformed members of the GNA entered the community and began firing, which led those present to seek safety by running towards a nearby river. Some managed to cross it and escape. Witnesses indicate that they saw Santiago Maldonado running to protect himself from the shots before the river crossing. Those who had fled to the other shore saw him crouching to hide himself and overheard two GNA officials exclaim, “we’ve got one,” and “you are detained.” Another person reported seeing a group of gendarmes beating a young man who was tied up. Later, another witness said he saw between six and eight troops forming a row to block the view of something being loaded into the back of a GNA van. Although none of the witnesses managed to identify precisely who was loaded into the van, the community reported that no other person present in the community that day has disappeared. Despite the community’s repeated attempts to locate Santiago Maldonado and the various habeas corpus appeals filed urging the state to take the necessary measures to find Santiago Maldonado, the authorities have not offered any information about his whereabouts or the measures they have taken to find him. The UN Committee against Enforced Disappearances issued an Urgent Action requesting information on Santiago Maldonado’s whereabouts, as well as diligent investigation of the facts.
Adapted from https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr13/6907/2017/en/

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"Where is Santiago Maldonado?" Social media in Argentina is chiming with the same phrase, loaded with anger and frustration.

The protester, 28, went missing at an indigenous-rights demonstration in Patagonia at the start of August.

On a Saturday night talk show, the national security minister said she was sure the police were not involved.

Witnesses say Mr Maldonado was arrested and not seen again.

The police have denied detaining him.

"The police are not the same as 40 years ago," said Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, referring to the country's military dictatorship. Rights groups say up to 30,000 people "disappeared" when a brutal junta ruled from 1976 to 1983.

She urged people not to make the case a "political battle", saying the government and human rights organisations were aligned in trying to find out the truth.

But Argentina's history of political disappearances has made the case an extremely hot subject.

The government has offered a reward of almost US$30,000 (£23,000) for information on his disappearance.

The former president, now head of the opposition, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has repeatedly spoken out on the disappearance, which also coincided with the first round of congressional elections.

"Santiago must reappear. And he must reappear alive," she tweeted.

The mystery gripping a nation

What happened on 1 August is entirely unclear.

"It truly is an enigma," said television host Mirtha Legrand, during her show when she grilled the security minister.

After the interview aired, Argentines ramped up the online protests, posting Facebook status updates with their name and current location, adding, "But where is Santiago Maldonado?"

"I am Mariana. I am in my house, waking up in the morning, and I want to know, where is Santiago Maldonado?" read a typical example, posted on Sunday.

Ms Bullrich has previously said there is no proof that Mr Maldonado was even present at the protest, which took place in Cushamen, in Chubut province, as "all the people were hooded".

The polarised Argentine press has been filled with rumours, from backing allegations that the police were involved to suggesting that an indigenous-rights protester of the Mapuche community killed him.

One witness account says he was seen when a group crossed a river to escape the police, who were said to be firing lead and rubber bullets.

"We saw him clinging to a tree, not crossing the river," Mapuche protester Soraya Maicoño told news site Infobae, saying he then went out of view after they heard someone tell him he was being detained. "After that, we did not see him again."

However, key witnesses have refused to testify in court, which the authorities say is hampering investigations.

The Mapuche's protest

The Cushamen protest was held to defy the detention of Mapuche leader Facundo Jones Huala, who heads the Ancestral Mapuche Resistance (RAM) separatist group.

Jones Huala is in a Chubut jail, and the Chilean government, which considers him a terrorist, has requested his extradition.

A community of Mapuche have been occupying land in the Chubut, claiming ancestral rights in a privately owned area.

On the day that Mr Maldonado disappeared, border police arrived to dismantle a roadblock which had been erected by protesters on Route 40, the main road that connects the country from north to south.

'I can't look at my son's face on a flag'

Earlier this month, a march was held in Buenos Aires calling for Santiago Maldonado's safe return.

Another march was held in the city of La Plata last week, but it took a violent turn when a protester threw a Molotov-type bomb at the provincial Senate building.

Mr Maldonado's brother insists his sibling is "not a militant or an activist", but just had empathy for the cause.

The craftsman, who was often travelling, had recently moved to the bohemian Patagonian town of El Bolsón, where he was living with others in a community library.

Now he is becoming a symbol for various conflicts, from indigenous rights to alleged government repression.

A giant mural of him has been created in his parents' home town in Buenos Aires province.

"I can't look at my son's face on a flag or in a mural," said his father, Enrique, in an interview with La Nación newspaper on Friday. "Please let him reappear. Where is he? What have they done to him?"

The family say they have agreed to give samples of blood and saliva to check with the DNA of blood and hair found in a police van.

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Argentina asks: Where's Santiago Maldonado?

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"Where is Santiago Maldonado?" Social media in Argentina is chiming with the same phrase, loaded with anger and frustration. The protester, 28, went missing at an indigenous-rights demonstration in Patagonia at the start of August. On a Saturday night talk show, the national security minister said she was sure the police were not involved.

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In some cases universal rights are not respected and it is our responsibility to speak up for our rights and for the rights of others.
Human rights are the basic freedoms and protections that belong to every single one of us. They are based on principles of dignity, equality and mutual respect – regardless of age, nationality, gender, race, beliefs and personal orientations. These basic human rights are universal,  inalienable, indivisible and interdependent. This is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we should all know our rights

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“Even today I think, maybe today, tomorrow, they will return my son to me [...] Every night he appears in my sleep and during the day I cry all the time [...] That is not a life anymore. For me everything came to a halt. I don’t live; I just walk over the earth.”

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"Even today I think, maybe today, tomorrow, they will return my son to me [...] Every night he appears in my sleep and during the day I cry all the time [...] That is not a life anymore. For me everything came to a halt. I don't live; I just walk over the earth."
Bilat Akhmatkhanova, mother of Artur Akhamatkhanov, who was subject to enforced disappearance in Grozny, capital of the Chechen Republic, in 2003. He was 22 years old.

What are enforced disappearances?

Enforced disappearance takes place when a person is arrested, detained, abducted or otherwise deprived of their liberty by government officials or by organized groups or private individuals whose actions are condoned by the government in some way.

This is followed by a refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the persons concerned, placing them outside the protection of the law. Enforced disappearance is a crime under international law, prohibited by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, among other international standards.

Enforced disappearance is a dehumanizing practice which has long-lasting and damaging consequences for both the disappeared person and his or her families and loved ones. It is a particularly cruel human rights abuse because it is of a continuous nature, particularly for families and loved ones of the victim who often wait for years to learn the truth about the victim's fate.

Photo: Stop Enforced Disappearances © Amnesty International

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"Even today I think, maybe today, tomorrow, they will return my son to me [...] Every night he appears in my sleep and during the day I cry all the time [...] That is not a life anymore. For me everything came to a halt. I don't live; I just walk over the earth."