The Search for Missing Persons in Colombia : Its Contributions to the Transitional Justice Objectives of the 2016 Peace Accord

Sammanfattning: This research project aims to analyse the current administrative/humanitarian model of the search for missing persons in the context of the Colombian conflict and to assess how it contributes to the transitional context in Colombia post-2016 Peace Agreement. Specifically, its contribution to truth, justice, reparations, and participation will be discussed. The two existing models of the search for missing persons will be briefly compared: the administrative/humanitarian model and the judicial model, based on existing literature and using examples from conflict or violent areas of Latin America. This is followed by the discussion of the Colombian model, set up in the 2016 Peace Agreement. Then, to examine how the administrative/humanitarian model of the search for missing persons contributes to the principles of the Agreement, the analysis is based on the semi-structured interviews of individuals who actively participate in search activities, including peace signatories, professionals in the field belonging to humanitarian organizations or independent NGOs and victims’ representatives. This is followed by recommendations to both the Colombian state and humanitarian organizations. The study argues that the mixed approach of the search in Colombia, which uses a hybrid system based on the complementarity of the judicial and administrative/humanitarian model, succeeds in supporting the principles of transitional justice, but that strengthening the support and commitment of the latter model proves the better avenue to provide answers on the fate and location of missing persons.