Colombia’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday called on President Alvaro Uribe to pass the “Law of Forced Disappearance,” which sets out new provisions on registering and searching for people who have been secretly kidnapped or murdered.
The court stated that Uribe’s objection to the “Law of Forced Disappearance” are unfounded, and that he should sign the bill, reports Caracol Radio.
The bill, which has already been passed by Congress and is awaiting Uribe’s approval prior to becoming a law, seeks to establish an official policy on finding, registering, and caring for the victims of forced disappearance.
The court argued that the bill should be converted into law because the Congress has already approved it, and that the government has the resources to fund it.
One of Uribe’s objections to signing the bill is that it it exceeds the resources the government has allocated for such programs.
The bill, if enacted into law, will lead to the creation of a genetic database of forcefully disappeared individuals, and the construction of monuments to honor the victims.
The official figures of forced disappearances differ, in 2009 the United Nations said there were 17,000 cases, NGOs reported 24,000, while Colombia’s prosecutor general said there were 50,000.
In 2008, the UN said that Colombia was the only country where forced disappearances continue to be a problem.