Almost four decades of internal armed conflict (1960-1996) left Guatemala with 200,000 killed in at least 669 massacres and 1.5 million people displaced. It also left 45,000 disappeared. In most cases, family members are still trying to find them.
The Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) works tirelessly to identify human remains found in mass graves, comparing the DNA of their relatives with the exhumed bones.
Today the foundation, with the slogan "my name is NOT XX", has a database with the DNA of 13,699 relatives, through which it has managed to identify 3,100 persons and has delivered the remains of 1,500 persons to their relatives so that they can be given a proper burial.
The survivors have a fundamental need to find a disappeared relative, to know the cause of death and to be able to bury them according to their customs. And, at last, be able to restart life where it once was put on pause.
