Following the Thread: Ex-Combatant Reintegration and the Search for the Disappeared in Colombia

The people of Colombia have endured over half a century of internal, armed conflict, generating hundreds of thousands of victims of violence and millions displaced. Guerrilla organizations, (neo-)paramilitary groups, and the state armed forces continue to engage in struggles across the country that together define the overall conflict alongside the complications introduced by entrenched narcotrafficking. Supported by domestic and international organizations, large-scale forensic efforts to discover, exhume, and identify the disappeared have been ongoing since the early 2000s. Peace agreements to end the conflict with various factions have also been implemented over the course of conflict, accompanied by efforts to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate (DDR) former combatants, (re-)transitioning them into the civilian population. Both large-scale forensic processes to reclaim the dead and DDR are integral to peacebuilding efforts, such as reconciliation and transitional justice that often occur in the aftermath of conflict. However, the ongoing nature of the internal conflict complicates these processes and may lead to unexpected effects that hinder peace processes. The goal of this research is to investigate the unexplored potential relationship between the parallel post-conflict processes of large-scale forensic efforts and ex-combatant reintegration in the context of ongoing conflict in Colombia while informing the practice of forensic anthropology and DDR on a foundation of anthropological theory. This project is the culmination of two separate field experiences in Colombia, anchored primarily on those conducted from 2022-2023 including remote interviews with 45 individuals (forensic practitioners, individuals associated with reintegration efforts, and members of the public not affiliated with forensic efforts nor DDR). Research themes include state power, militarization, biopower, necro-governmentality, and necropower.

Large-scale forensic efforts influence public perceptions of already stigmatized ex-combatants that may result in increased discrimination contributing, among other factors, to the failure of individuals to stay demobilized during ongoing conflict. Political animosity and increasing polarization are the main contributors to this effect, strengthened by divisive rhetoric and misinformation by major media sources and through social media. Interlocutors were mostly supportive of both large-scale forensic efforts and ex-combatant reintegration, recognizing the necessity of these processes and their importance to peacebuilding and reconciliation. However, the overarching politicization of peace processes in Colombia contribute to complicating these efforts. Emergent themes from these discussions also revealed gross inequality, corruption, and issues of land reform to be central drivers of conflict that must be addressed in facilitating peace and an eventual end to decades of violence.