| |
Guatemala is not a country with many political prisoners. In the past, opponents of the government, the military, or other powerful interests were either killed or made to "disappear". This is to say that they have been abducted and not seen or heard from since. Often, this signifies that they were probably tortured, killed and disposed of in a clandestine grave.
The verb form of the word "disappear" originated in Guatemala, where some 45,000 "disappearances", over half of the known cases in Latin America, have taken place.
Given the huge number of "disappearance" cases, several human rights groups have formed to deal specifically with this issue. Included are the Mutual Support Group (GAM members pictured above), the Families of the Disappeared (FAMDEGUA) and the Widows of the Disappeared (CONAVIGUA).
|
