Guatemala Launches Search Commission for 45,000 Civil War ‘Disappeared’

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Guatemala has launched a new humanitarian mechanism to help locate an estimated 45,000 people who disappeared during the country’s 36-year civil war, marking a major step toward addressing one of the darkest chapters in its history.

President Bernardo Arévalo announced the creation of the Humanitarian Search Mechanism for People Disappeared during the Internal Armed Conflict, bringing together government institutions and humanitarian organizations to support families searching for missing relatives.

"We are starting on the path to find those among us who are missing, to heal an open historical wound," Arévalo said during the launch ceremony at the National Palace of Culture.

The conflict, which lasted from 1960 to 1996, left more than 200,000 people dead or missing, with most cases attributed to military and paramilitary forces. Authorities say the new initiative aims to guarantee the rights to truth, memory and reparations, while helping families uncover the fate of loved ones who vanished during the war.

Human rights groups welcomed the move, calling it a long-awaited step toward justice and reconciliation after decades of unanswered questions.