Victims’ Voices

The stories of the Disappeared are harrowing: the disappearance of sole parents leaving children orphaned, babies never having the chance to meet their fathers and families left broken. To compound the agony, several of the young men abducted had educational or learning difficulties, and were seen as very vulnerable by their families. From the moment of the abduction, the families carried this loss, often alone as it was too dangerous to talk about what had happened. The families’ feelings of loss were intensified by the omnipresence of the paramilitaries in their community and the ravaging impact of the conflict that was going on around them. The families have waited, in some cases up to five decades, for the return of their loved one’s bodies or for information about their murder and secret burial. They are still fighting for information and justice today. This chapter captures the voices of the families involved in this publication and explores their personal experiences of neglect, silence, blame and control and the hands of paramilitary organisations and the broader community.