The Disappeared: A False Dispute Between Humanitarian and Judicial Objectives

In our country there is a discrepancy between our perception of the needs of the relatives of disappeared persons and the actions we have proposed on their behalf. It is clear to everyone, for example, that the women of the well-known Asociación Nacional de Familiares de Secuestrados, Detenidos y Desaparecidos del Perú (ANFASEP) suffer from the uncertainty of not knowing what happened to their loved ones; that the disappearance affected them at various levels (material, emotional, educational, property-related, etc.), and that they have legitimate expectations of justice. But when the actions that must be taken to meet those needs are identified, reference is usually made only to reparations and justice, and not to the search for the mortal remains of their loved ones.