Evidence of Jorge Documentary Traces of a Forced Disappearance in Colombia

Giraldo Lopera, Marta Lucía and Bermúdez Qvortrup, Natalia Evidence of Jorge Documentary Traces of a Forced Disappearance in Colombia. Archivaria, 2022, vol. 94, n. Spe., pp. 204-230. [Journal article (Paginated)]

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English abstract

Jorge Soto Gallo disappeared on July 15, 1985, during a trip from Medellín to Bogotá in Colombia. Jorge is one of the thousands of disappeared people in Colombia whose families are still searching for answers, yet Jorge’s life and disappearance have been memorialized and recorded through his sister’s work of preserving, cultivating, and activating his personal archive. During recent decades, families of disappeared persons have begun to assemble folders that carry the evidence of disappearances. This article explores the personal archive of Jorge Soto Gallo with the aim of understanding a recordkeeping practice carried out by families and communities, which focuses on disappeared persons and often leads to a broad repertoire of political activism in defence of human rights. We ask, Which records are included, how are they brought together during these periods of upheaval, what do they mean, and what role do they play? We argue that creating and preserving these archives of enforced disappearance act as liberatory memory work (LMW) and as instincts of the families against forces of impunity and oblivion. We show that LMW is a living reality in Colombia that operates on a person-centred level, going beyond transitional justice frameworks, and turning victims into recordkeepers providing the possibility of historical accountability for future generations.

French abstract

Jorge Soto Gallo est disparu le 15 juillet 1985 lors d’un voyage entre Medellín et Bogotá, en Colombie. Jorge est l’un des milliers de personnes disparues en Colombie dont les familles cherchent toujours des réponses. Toutefois, la vie et la disparition de Jorge ont été commémorées et documentées par le travail de préservation, d’engagement et d’activisme de sa sœur. Au cours des dernières décennies, les familles de disparu.e.s ont commencé à regrouper des dossiers qui portent l’évidence de disparitions. Cet article explore les archives personnelles de Jorge Soto Gallo avec comme objectif de comprendre une pratique de collection d’archives entreprise par les familles et communautés, qui met l’accent sur les personnes disparues. Cette pratique conduit souvent à un activisme politique se portant à la défense des droits de la personne. Nous demandons alors: Quels documents sont inclus? Comment sont-ils regroupés dans ces périodes de bouleversements? Que signifient-ils et quel rôle jouent-ils? Nous soutenons que l’action de créer et de préserver ces archives de disparition par la force agit comme un travail de mémoire libérateur et se produit instinctivement pour les familles se trouvant en opposition face aux forces d’impunité et de l’oubli. Nous démontrons que le travail de mémoire libérateur centré sur les personnes est une réalité vivante en Colombie. Ce travail va ainsi plus loin que le cadre de justice transitionnelle. La transformation des victimes en archivistes offre des possibilités de responsabilité historique pour les générations futures.

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: personal archive; Memory; human rights; Archives Science; Archivo Personal; Memoria; Derechos Humanos; Archivística
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information > BC. Information in society.
Depositing user: Grupo Información, Conocimiento y Sociedad EIB-UdeA
Date deposited: 12 Mar 2024 11:26
Last modified: 12 Mar 2024 11:26
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/45635

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