Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation rejects the arbitrary detention of two of its members by the Colombian national police

On May 27 (at 8:40 pm), the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation tweeted: “URGENT! We reject arbitrary detention of two members of the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation, by the Police, in the middle of #SemanadelDetenidoDesaparecido. Police have the duty to respect the right to liberty and memory of the victims’ relatives and their organizations.”

#SemanadelDetenidoDesaparecido refers to the International Week of the Disappeared, which runs from May 25 to 30 this year.

We will update this as more information become available.

Update: On May 27 (at 11:09 pm), the Foundation tweeted: “We inform that the two members of the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation are well and free. But what happened is an affront to the international week of the victims of Forced Disappearance.”

Performance earlier this week

On May 25, the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation organized the performance noted in the poster at the bottom of this article. The key phrases on it include:

#nomasmujeresdesperacidas – no more missing women

Dia Nacional por la Dignidad de las Mujeres victimas de violencia sexual – National Day for the Dignity of Women Victims of Sexual Violence

Arbitrary detentions and sexual violence during the national strike and armed conflict

The Colombian organization Temblores (Tremors) has reported that between April 28 (the first day of the National Strike) and May 24, there have been 1,388 arbitrary detentions of people participating in the strike and 22 victims of sexual violence committed by the Public Force (police and military).

This week, the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation also noted: “Impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence in the armed conflict is the responsibility of the state (25% state agents, 5% guerrilla, 51% paramilitary with the tolerance of the state).”

The armed conflict in Colombia began in May 1964. While a peace agreement was approved in November 2016, armed fighting involving the state, paramilitary groups and splinter guerilla groups continues.

The Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation (FNEB)

PBI-Colombia has explained: “The Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation for Human Rights is an organization of relatives of the victims of forced disappearance from five regions around the country and an interdisciplinary group of lawyers, social workers and experts in social archives and communication, who accompany people who have suffered the disappearance of one or several loved ones.”

“A specific focus of the Foundation are cases of enforced disappearances of girls and women in the armed conflict and as a result of socio-political violence in the country, in which signs of gender violence have been identified.”

PBI-Colombia adds: “FNEB wants to draw attention to the differential impacts that enforced disappearances have left on the lives, bodies and rights of female victims and of the women who seek missing relatives. In its work with victims of enforced disappearance, the organization prioritizes meeting the specific needs of women.”

Yanette Bautista has been fighting against forced disappearances in Colombia since the disappearance of her 32-year-old sister Nydia Erika on August 30, 1987. Members of the Battalion of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the Colombian National Army have been named as responsible for the disappearance of Nydia Erika.

Yanette established the Foundation in 1999 while in exile from Colombia.

PBI-Colombia began accompanying the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation occasionally in 2007 and then in full since 2016.