Across the globe, families gather for dinner—a scene that seems so ordinary. Yet, some leave one plate untouched at the table, a silent tribute to the siblings or children who disappeared. That empty plate is an aching reminder of loved ones still missing, with hope they are coming back home for dinner. 

Despite the distance, Colombia, Timor-Leste, and Indonesia share the pain of thousands of families still waiting for their missing loved ones. These countries all established Truth Commissions to issue recommendations aimed at expediting and strengthening institutional responses in the search for missing persons. However, the challenges remain immense, and progress has fallen short.

Two stories of disappearance 

During the Indonesian occupation of the Southeast Asian country of Timor-Leste from 1975 to 1999, the Timor-Leste Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation (CAVR) estimates that thousands of children were removed from their families and forcibly taken to Indonesia. They were often lured with promises of education or forced to serve as Indonesian military auxiliary. These “Stolen Children” were brought to various parts of Indonesia, given new names, forced to assimilate into Indonesian culture, and even endured exploitation and violence. 

For these children, their origins became like torn-out pages from a family photo album. They lost their ability to speak Tetum, their native language, and grew up with fragmented identities, sensing something missing but unable to articulate it. Their families, meanwhile, were left clutching fragments of memories—an old snapshot, a toy, their favorite dish on the dinner table, or the faint scent of their clothes. 

The inaction from governments left families to bear the pain of separation alone. More often than not, the women from the victim’s family became the main driver of the searching process, bringing a personal, compassionate approach to a delicate and challenging mission. In the absence of comprehensive documentation, these efforts often relied on leads from other survivors of kidnapping or insights from military veterans. Reports to governments or NGOs frequently reached dead ends, as children had been forcibly renamed by the military or relocated across Indonesia. Reconnecting families often began with finding the children and using their fragmented memories to piece together their identities and origins.

Colombia has also been touched by this issue. The first documented cases of enforced disappearance occurred during the implementation of the national security doctrine in the 1960s and 1970s, under a state of siege. Over time, while this practice was prevalent in the counter-insurgent strategy of the state forces and the paramilitaries, leftist guerrillas also committed this crime. Enforced disappearance became systematic and trivialized as a method to exert control and eliminate opponents.

According to data from the the Unit for the Search of People Deemed as Disappeared in the Armed Conflict (UBPD), more than 104,000 cases of enforced disappearance were  documented within the context of the internal armed conflict.  Despite the numerous peace agreements aimed at ending the violence, this phenomenon persists. Currently, an average of one person goes missing in Colombia every day and a half. 

Similar to Timor-Leste, searchers have played a crucial role in Colombia. Before enforced disappearance was recognized as a crime, the families of victims came together to bring the issue to the public agenda. Through their persistence, they succeeded in having enforced disappearance recognized as a crime, pushed for the creation of public policies to facilitate the search for the missing, and advocated for the establishment of an institution dedicated exclusively to this task: the Search Unit for Missing Persons.

This monumental effort has led many searchers, particularly women, to leave their formal jobs and fully dedicate themselves to gathering clues about the whereabouts of their relatives or others in similar situations. Despite these achievements, searchers continue to face enormous risks, including threats, discrimination, and physical violence. Some have even been forced to flee the country and live in exile to protect their lives.

Recommendations on Disappearances from the Truth Commissions

Truth commissions are institutions tasked with clarifying the atrocities committed in the past. In doing so, they not only shed light on the crimes but also on the pathways to healing, offering recommendations for transformative change. However, these proposals often are unfulfilled promises, extinguished like candles snuffed out too soon. In both Colombia and Timor-Leste, truth commissions have been established to make recommendations aimed at strengthening and advancing the process of searching for missing persons.

In 2008, Indonesia and Timor-Leste established the Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF), the first bilateral commission of its kind, to strengthen peace and reveal the truth about the violence committed in Timor-Leste in 1999. The CTF report also aligned with the findings and serves as a continuation of the work of the first truth commission, CAVR, established in 2001. One of the recommendations is for Indonesia and Timor-Leste to establish a commission for the disappeared. 

Little progress has been made in Indonesia to create such a commission while Timor-Leste has made better progress in establishing a specific commission called Centro Nacional Chega! (CNC) to follow up recommendation of truth commissions, including to support the search and reunification process. While both countries have provided some support for civil society efforts to trace these  children and reunite families, the Indonesian government has ignored the CTF’s call for a formal apology and acknowledgement. Additionally, prosecution and judicial investigations into these crimes have been hindered by a lack of clarity over legal powers and responsibilities, and the continued influence of former perpetrators. 

Colombia has also attempted to address the problem of forced disappearances. Following the 2016 Peace Agreement, the Unit for the Search of People Deemed as Disappeared in the Armed Conflict (UBPD) was created, adding a humanitarian and extra-judicial mechanism to previous institutional initiatives, which were important but not as effective as the Search Commission, an entity responsible for coordinating state institutions to achieve a more effective search. 

The Colombian truth commission proposed several recommendations for building peace and avoiding the recurrence of violence. Notably, addressed the challenges faced in the search for the disappeared. In this context, Recommendation 14 proposed making the necessary institutional, public policy, and regulatory adjustments to promote the search for disappeared persons in the context of the armed conflict, with the aim of ensuring that this search becomes a priority for the State. As a result of the recommendation and thanks to the relentless efforts of the searchers, the National Search System was established, and work is currently underway to develop a national policy for the search of the disappeared.

Despite the progress made, the pending tasks still outweigh the achievements. On one hand, the Follow-up and Monitoring Committee for the Truth Commission’s Recommendations has raised significant concerns about the progress of these recommendations. One of the most alarming issues is the persistent discrepancies between the figures reported by the UBPD and the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (INMLCF) regarding the bodies recovered and delivered for identification. The lack of validation and adjustment of these figures makes it difficult to accurately determine the real number of missing persons whose remains are being identified.

On the other hand, many relatives of victims of enforced disappearance feel that they lack clarity about the progress of their cases. For them, the achievements of the UBPD remain unclear or even unknown, which increases their sense of uncertainty and complicates the process of seeking answers and justice.

An Unsolved Problem

Just as enforced disappearance has shaped the realities of Colombia, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste in different ways, these countries have started their work through institutional efforts. However, these attempts persist as fragmented and incomplete, resulting in the failure to fully achieve the changes intended by the recommendations of the respective truth commissions.

While in Colombia, mechanisms to search for the disappeared have been established such as UBPD and National Search System, tangible results for the victims and their families remain scarce. Discrepancies in data between institutions slow down progress, leaving the victims’ families navigating bureaucratic complexities to recover their loved ones. In contrast, in Indonesia and Timor-Leste, the burden of searching falls largely on families and civil society, with minimal state involvement. The tenth reunion of stolen children in November 2024, while a rare and heartening success with support of CNC, underscores the road is still far for the states in fulfilling their obligations.

For the families of the disappeared, the fight in searching for answers is endless. One thing is clear, the united struggle seen from these contexts endures the same, with families’ determination that push the institutions to perform, piecing together clues and bridging gaps.  The empty plates at countless dinner tables demand it, a reminder of the voices of the disappeared and the promises still owed to them. Until these debts are paid, neither country can claim to have truly turned the page on their darkest chapters.