Annual Report 2007 (Covering the period January to December 2006)
Title Page and Table of Contents
Mission Reports
EAAF continued its work in Argentina to identify people who disappeared during the last military regime, moving investigations forward in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Córdoba, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Santa Fe, and Tucumán. EAAF is providing evidence in new and reopened prosecutions.
EAAF conducted two missions to Bolivia, advising the Santa Cruz de la Sierra District Attorney’s Office on forensic aspects of the investigation of Bolivians who disappeared between 1964 and 1982. EAAF also assisted the Association of Families of the Disappeared and Martyrs for National Liberation in the José Luis Ibsen case.
EAAF formed part of a panel of experts established by Chile’s Presidential Advisory Commission on Human Rights to make recommendations on possible problems related to the identification of disappeared persons found in plot 29 of Santiago’s General Cemetery in 1991 and 1997.
At the request of the United Nations Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus, EAAF is leading a forensic project on the search for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots missing since the 1963-1964 and 1974 incidents.
EAAF conducted a mission to El Salvador at the request of Tutela Legal, the human rights office of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, to carry out a preliminary investigation into the 1932 massacre of Izalco.
EAAF worked in Chihuahua State on the recovery and identification of over 60 female remains associated with the investigation of murdered and disappeared women in Ciudad Juarez and the city of Chihuahua.
EAAF conducted a mission to Morocco on contract with the International Center for Transitional Justice to assess current and future forensic work resulting from the Equity and Reconciliation Commission, a governmental truth commission investigating state-sponsored disappearances and killings between 1956 and 1999.
EAAF conducted three missions to Paraguay to collaborate with the Commission for Truth and Justice on the search for persons who disappeared during the regime of General Alfredo Stroessner, carrying out forensic investigations and assisting on historical research and database management.
At the request of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), EAAF conducted a mission to South Africa to investigate apartheid-era crimes. Together with the Missing Persons Task Team, an agency of the NPA, EAAF carried out exhumations, performed anthropological analysis, and trained post-graduate students.
At the request of the Office of the President of Uruguay, EAAF provided assistance in the identification of the remains of Ubagesner Chaves Sosa and Fernando Miranda. These are the first identifications of remains of disappeared persons found in Uruguay.
Special Sections
Special Section: Part I (Right to Truth)
Right to Truth: EAAF’s work supports the fundamental rights to truth and justice of victims of human rights violations, their families, and societies at large. This section provides an update on prosecutions in Argentina for human rights abuses during the last military government.
Special Section: Part II (Awards)
Awards: EAAF received a B’nai B’rith Foundation award in recognition of its work to promote human rights. Team member Mercedes Doretti received a prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2007.
Special Section: Part III (Documentation and Outreach)
Documentation and Outreach: Visual documentation and outreach activities are part of EAAF’s effort to share the results of forensic investigations, along with the personal stories accompanying them, to affected communities, associations of families of victims, human rights organizations, related institutions, and society at large. This year, we focus on recent EAAF published articles.
Special Section: Part IV (International Psycho-Social Work Conference)
International Psycho-Social Work Conference: EAAF participated in the conference held in Antigua, Guatemala. The conference aimed to strengthen the practical and theoretical development of psycho-social assistance through the exchange of ideas and experiences among those active in accompaniment during the search for the disappeared.
Special Section: Part V (LIID)
LIID: The Latin American Initiative for the Identification of the Disappeared (LIID) was launched in Argentina, Guatemala, and Peru. EAAF spearheaded the highly successful first stages of the LIID in Argentina, leading an ad campaign, collecting blood samples, depositions, and planning for future work.
