According to new research published by Centro Nacional de Memoria Historica (National Center for Historical Memory), 82, 998 people were forcibly disappeared between 1958 and 2015.
Following the publication of a 2016 study 'Hasta encontrarlos. El drama de la desaparición forzada en Colombia', which numbered the disappearances from the 70's until 2015 at 60, 630, the Observatorio de Memoria y Conflicto (Observatory of Memory and Conflict) found new sources of disappeared people who had never been registered in the RUV (Unique Registry of Victims). They also went back further in time to 1958, and the number increased to over 80, 000.
However, when they looked at the perpetrators of these crimes, the trends were the same; paramilitary groups remain the biggest culprits of the forced disappearances. Although only 63% of the cases have known perpetrators, within this number, the largest groups were paramilitary groups(63. 3%), followed by guerillas (24. 3%), Armed Post - Demobilisation groups (6. 5%) and State agents (5. 8%). Andres Suarez, coordinator of the Observatorio, explained on the CNMH website that in many cases, the paramilitary groups, Armed Post - Demobilisation groups and the agents of the state worked together to create disappearances.
Source: Thebagotapost