Finding ways of searching for the disappeared: the information practices of the families in Colombia
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-10-2021-0202 |
| Published date | 03 March 2022 |
| Date | 03 March 2022 |
| Pages | 1371-1388 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
| Author | Natalia Bermúdez Qvortrup |
Finding ways of searching for the
disappeared: the information
practices of the families
in Colombia
Natalia Berm
udez Qvortrup
Department of Archivistics, Library and Information Science,
Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to explore and identify the information-seeking process and practices of those
searching for the forcefully disappeared in Colombia. It answers the questions; how do families in Colombia
seek information about a disappearance, how is this seeking process mediated and how are information
barriers dealt with?
Design/methodology/approach –Based on document analysis and interviews with families and NGO
representatives, this bottom-up study explores the trajectory of the families’information-seeking process to
highlight the most salient information practices.
Findings –A general trajectory of a search for information is laid out. The overwhelming barriers to
information forces families to carry the burden of becoming information providers. NGOs provide situated
learning on how to document a disappearance and deal with the state. This knowledge is passed on to families
creating communities of practices. The information produced here becomes the main source of knowledge
about this crime.
Originality/value –It makes a new contribution to the field of information practices by introducing the
context of enforced disappearances using the example of Colombia, identifying a significant information-
seeking process.
KeywordsInformation seeking, Colombia,Information needs, Communities of practice, Information practices,
Enforced disappearance, Human rights documentation, Information barriers
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Enforced disappearance [1] is a practice based on hiding or destroying the bodies of people,
eliminating or concealingall evidence of the crimes committed againstthe victim and denying
all knowledge (Rozema,2011). The families of the disappeared (from hereon “the families”) are
left in a desperate situationof needing information about the whereabouts oftheir loved ones
and what has happened to them. Information-seeking, therefore, is alwayspresent in the face
of this crime, whether from families orthe organizations that represent them.
Once largely a tactic of military regimes, enforced disappearance today has become an
administrative practice for removing political opponents in democratic countries as well
(UNHCHR, 2009). Colombia provides a prime example of enforced disappearances occurring
under democratic rule. In Colombia, enforced disappearances occur mainly at the hands of
paramilitary groups often with the acquiescence of the State, followed by guerrilla groups,
government forces and criminal gangs (Courtney, 2010;UNWGEID, 2006). Colombia’s six-
Seeking the
disappeared
1371
The author acknowledges Anneli Sundqvist and Jemima Garc
ıa-Godos for their feedback and support,
the anonymous reviewers for their comments, the INFUSE research group at OsloMet, Ram
on Alberch,
Adriana Rudling, Marta Lucia Giraldo for her contacts, and the interviewees who cannot be named. In
particular, the women who are bravely resisting against all odds are acknowledged.
Funding: The funding was provided by Oslo Metropolitan University.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0022-0418.htm
Received 15 October 2021
Revised 1 February 2022
Accepted 10 February 2022
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 78 No. 6, 2022
pp. 1371-1388
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-10-2021-0202
decade internal conflict has left roughly 120,000 disappeared persons (UBPD, 2020a;ICMP,
2020)[2]. When a person goes missing, those that search for them are in most cases the
immediate family or dependents. Under international law, the families are victims of this
crime [3] which allows them to derive the “right to know”their relatives’fate and whereabouts
(Ott and Hertig, 2020).
Access to information in Colombia exists precariously within a complex legal prism where
freedom of information (FOI) laws have been passed (Law 1755 of 2015), yet human rights
documentation held by state institutions is usually inaccessible. Any clash between laws of
access is usually resolved by the intelligence community in favour of a restriction of access
(Ram
ırez et al., 2017). In this context, families seek information with the help of support agents
such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and family associations, groups or
organisations (from here on FOs). The families’search process [4] is immensely problematic
due to lack of political will, and logistical and methodological challenges. Most families come
from economically deprived backgrounds or locations, often semi-literate, and distrustful of
authorities due to a history of abuse and persecution (Courtney, 2010; ICMP, 2020).
Based on in-depth conversational interviews with four family members, four NGO
representatives who assist families and document analysis, this article explores the
information practices of the families, asking, how do families in Colombia seek information
about a disappearance, how is this process mediated and how are information barriers
dealt with?
The study goes beyond needs, seeking and barriers allowing for a more holistic
understanding of the families’real-world experiences by identifying the information
practices that exist in this context so as to understand how, in the face of vast
overwhelming barriers families proceed with their seeking and collection of information.
The concept of information-seeking is not researched here to study any sense-making or
cognitive capacity, choices or actions of the “users”of information per se,buttheroleof
contextual factors and social conditions under which specific seeking processes take place
and how. I also seek to add an urgent context to the conversation on information-seeking
and practices, that of enforced disappearances by showing the pervasiveness of
information activities in this context. I believe it offers a unique perspective of lived
experiences and life-worlds that may influence how we see or use certain information
research terms such as information nee ds and brings greater understanding about
knowledge sharing in extreme circumstances.
Related literature
Traditionally, the issue of enforced disappearance has been broadly the purview of fields
such as human rights, transitional justice (TJ), law and forensic science. Literature on
enforced disappearances and the role of information has been approached in the field of
archivistics and memory studies, for example, on the use of, or meaning of records or archives
(Giraldo and Tob
on, 2020;Halilovich, 2014;Crenzel, 2020;Hussain, 2019;Lessa, 2021;Da Silva
Catela, 2012). The legal focus is still very present within this intersection (Baumgartner and
Ott, 2017;Lessa, 2021;Accatino and Collins, 2016;Barrera, 2010). During the last three years
[5] however, and multiple online searches, I have not come across literature in the field of
information studies/LIS that engages with the issue of enforced disappearances. Systematic
searches [6] were made on Web of Science, Google Scholar and the Norwegian Academic
database Oria, using the terms *forced disappearance/missing persons/forcefully
disappeared (among other variations) and information behaviour/practices/seeking/use/
access. Nevertheless, I believe that information studies has much to contribute to the
conversation about enforced disappearances due to the central aspects of information-
seeking and concealment in this context.
JD
78,6
1372
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