Within the United States context, ‘Disappeared’ is not a common word used to describe a missing person. Disappeared named what happened to victims missing without a trace in Latin America from the 1960s onward, and now its meaning is recognized all over the world. In Spanish, personas desaparecidas, or Disappeared persons, describes people forcibly removed from their communities, against their will, usually by the State, organized criminal networks, or paramilitary organizations, without their families’ knowledge of their whereabouts and well-being. ‘Disappeared’ is used to describe a forcibly disappeared or involuntarily disappeared person. The difference between enforced and involuntary disappearance is the perpetrator of the crime; enforced implies the State or paramilitary organization were the perpetrators, while involuntary disappearance means the perpetrator is an organized criminal network or private actor. Unlike the word ‘missing,’ Disappeared communicates that the victim was deprived of liberty.

Friends of FAFG closely supports the work and mission of the FAFG through projects in Guatemala and other international contexts, for which the FAFG serves as the primary implementing partner. Friends of FAFG coordinates directly with the FAFG on projects in Guatemala and internationally. Two of Friends of FAFG’s co-founders, Dr. Clyde Snow and Executive Director Fredy Peccerelli, were also crucial to the creation of the FAFG. Friends of FAFG developed and expanded as the FAFG recognized a need to share its experience and victim-led forensic strategy to address contexts of disappearance around the world.

The Multidisciplinary Human Identification System was pioneered by Dr. Clyde Snow and adopted by the FAFG to search for and identify the Disappeared. It relies on cohesive sharing of information between 5 areas of forensic science: victim investigation and documentation, forensic archaeology, forensic anthropology, forensic genetics, and the confirmation of identification. Through this system, the FAFG ensures that the relationship with families of victims is prioritized, and all information feeds into the system to contribute to a successful comprehensive investigation.

Friends of FAFG follows a trauma-informed approach through its victim-led forensic strategy that places the needs and priorities of victims and families of victims at the heart of the search for truth and justice. By engaging with families to identify their needs and acknowledging their trauma, Friends of FAFG informs and accompanies victims’ families as they search for their loved ones. In trainings and workshops with CSOs, forensic teams, and important stakeholders potentially working with victims’ families, Friends of FAFG shares useful tools to participants to ensure that victims’ families feel supported, listened to, and empowered to share (or not share) their story.

Friends of FAFG supports FAFG's victim-led approach in Guatemala and designs and supports international projects that aim to respond to the needs of family members of the Disappeared in conflict and post-conflict societies around the world. Friends of FAFG conducts interviews to learn more about the victim and requests and collects reference DNA samples with informed consent. Friends of FAFG provides workshops for CSOs, community leaders, and important stakeholders about the scientific processes essential to Friends of FAFG’s and FAFG’s human identification efforts, so that important stakeholders gain a clear understanding and expectations of the process.

No, an identification is not only reliant on genetic analysis of DNA samples. In Guatemala, prior to 2007-2008, DNA was not used to identify remains, and instead investigators cross referenced victim documentation interviews conducted with family members that included individualizing information (ie: healed fractures, dental records) to forensic anthropology and archaeology reports (that included personal belongings found alongside the remains) to identify victims of disappearance. During exhumations in the 1990s and early 2000s, the FAFG welcomed the local community to watch and participate, and sometimes community members recognized their loved one’s clothing or personal affects. With DNA technology now available, all identifications include genetic analysis. However, it is important to remember DNA is only one important piece of data in the multidisciplinary human identification system, and all sources of information can lead to an identification.

If you have a loved one who went missing or disappeared during the Internal Armed conflict in Guatemala (1960-1996), go to www.fafg.org and click the “Report a Disappeared” button or message the FAFG WhatsApp Channel at +502 59091103. If you are searching for a missing or disappeared person elsewhere, remember you are not alone, and there are many people searching for their loved ones around the world. Reach out to ffafg@friendsoffafg.org and we will help connect you with organizations who may work in that area.

Returning remains with dignity means giving the remains of an identified Disappeared person to their loved ones or family to be honored and laid to rest as the family desires. This ceremony is different depending on context and religious and cultural practices. In Guatemala, it is called an inhumation ceremony. A FAFG anthropologist or archaeologist participates by anatomically laying out the remains in preparation for burial, and accompanying the family as they lay their loved one to rest, responding to any questions or doubts the family may have.

Friends of FAFG is a not-for-profit organization and its work is not to arrest or prosecute perpetrators. The FAFG’s reports have been used as evidence and FAFG experts have shared expert testimony in many trials both in Guatemala and internationally. While traditional criminal forensic science focuses on searching for the perpetrator of a crime, Friends of FAFG and FAFG’s goal is to search for, exhume, and identify victims of enforced disappearance; therefore, the work differs from a criminal investigation in that it follows a multidisciplinary and victim-led approach. The work of the FAFG does produce important evidence for trials, and the FAFG ensures that chain of custody and evidence management is meticulously followed so that its investigations can feed into accountability efforts.

Friends of FAFG’s partner FAFG operates a forensic genetic laboratory and uses DNA as an important piece of information to identify missing and disappeared persons. In Guatemala and other contexts, including Rohingya refugee camps, Syria, and Mexico, Friends of FAFG works with local partners to collect reference DNA samples from a family member of a victim with their informed consent. The genetic profiles are uploaded to a genetic database, that in some contexts FAFG maintains, where they are compared against genetic profiles from recovered skeletal remains to generate possible matches that could lead to an identification. The genetic bank is confidentially and securely stored.

Get involved with this important work by following us on social media @friendsoffafg, joining our newsletter on our website (www.friendsoffafg.org/about), or sharing about the work of Friends of FAFG in your community! Reach out to us at ffafg@friendsoffafg.org to learn more.

Enforced disappearance is a human rights violation, that deprives a person of potentially various rights including the right to life, right to be free from torture, right to be free from arbitrary detention, right to recognition before the law, and right to a fair trial. It is prohibited under international law, and is a crime in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.Enforced Disappearance is considered a continuous crime, meaning that perpetrator(s) are responsible until the whereabouts of the disappeared person are determined. In 2006 the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was written, and in 2010, it was adopted by the UN General Assembly. Only 76 countries are State Parties to the Convention, 40 are signatories, and 81 have taken no action, including the United States.

Friends of FAFG works with CSOs on multiple levels. The organization engages with CSOs to understand what they have accomplished, their needs, and to assess forensic capacity. Responding to requests, Friends of FAFG hosts workshops on the Multidisciplinary Human Identification System, so that CSOs and important stakeholders gain understanding of the scientific processes essential to human identification efforts. Friends of FAFG also facilitates interchanges between CSOs and government actors to establish a working relationship and transparency. Bringing together CSOs from around the world, the Global Forensic Academy, hosted by the FAFG and supported by the Friends of FAFG, is an opportunity for CSOs operating in the transitional justice field from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East to receive a 2-week program on the FAFG’s Multidisciplinary Human Identification system including hands-on learning in the forensic sciences.

A donation to Friends of FAFG supports life-changing work to uncover the truth of what happened to, and where are victims of disappearance. Using a victim-led forensic strategy, Friends of FAFG and the FAFG search for and identify the Disappeared across the world, including in Guatemala,victims of the Rohingya genocide, Syria, and Mexico.