FJA 2020 Shortlist

Category: Contribution to Civil Rights

Violeta Alejandra Santiago Hernández (Mexico)

Finding the Disappeared in Terror Camps

Presencia.Mx

March 29, 2020

The original publication is available via the following link:
https://www.presencia.mx/especiales/especial.aspx?id=1(Español)

English translation

Introduction

The Fifth National Search Brigade for Disappeared Persons was held in the north of Veracruz State between the 10th and the 21st of 2020. It is the third time that such kind of collectives have organized themselves in order to search for human remains in the territory of Veracruz State, but it is the first time that is has been held in such region, where 276 reported cases of disappearance were submitted until 2016, although the real number might be much higher, according to those affected from the María Herrera collective in Poza Rica.

This Brigade was a huge challenge, even for the experienced seekers involved. In addition to dealing with inclement weather and adverse conditions in lands that are evergreen most of the times, the Brigade's major discovery were the Cocinas (kitchens): an improved practice for human disappearance that is systematically carried out, under the silence and in collusion with institutions of Public Security of Veracruz and Mexico.

More than nine years have had to pass to speak about what happened to the disappeared ones in the north of Veracruz. Although the “kitchens” are suddenly reducing the hopes of finding the loved ones, the relatives in the María Herrera collective are not giving up in the search for their people, and their fight to stop this kind of bloodcurdling activities, therefore they can be protected against the pain caused by the uncertainty of not knowing where their loved ones are.

For almost two weeks we accompanied the Fifth Brigade established in Papantla City to compose this choral story, with the aims of bringing the problem that represents the enforced disappearances of people in this region of Mexico into the spotlight, sharing the feelings of those longing for empathy from citizens, and serving as a space to remember those who search and are searched.

Because, even if footprints are wiped out, the stories remain.

Dimensioning the disappearances

The original publication is available via the following link:
https://www.presencia.mx/especiales/articulo.aspx?id=1&s=1(Español)

The María Herrera collective

The original publication is available via the following link:
https://www.presencia.mx/especiales/articulo.aspx?id=2&s=1(Español)

The Fifth National Brigade’s search in an extermination camp called Veracruz

The original publication is available via the following link:
https://www.presencia.mx/especiales/articulo.aspx?id=3&s=1 (Español)

The “kitchens” of Veracruz: an improved practice for human disappearance

The original publication is available via the following link:
https://www.presencia.mx/especiales/articulo.aspx?id=4&s=1 (Español)

Keep on searching for the others

The original publication is available via the following link:
https://www.presencia.mx/especiales/articulo.aspx?id=5&s=1