Graciela Perez interview with Valéria Barbosa at Costa do Sauípe - 2016 13 th AWID
May 31, 2020
Story
Valéria Barbosa: Graciela Perez talking about missing people. Graziela is from Mexico.
Graciela Perez: Yes, in Mexico, we have a serious problem of missing persons. In particular, I have five missing relatives: my daughter, my brother and three children in the state of Tamaulipas. This was on August 14, 2012. As a result, we created a database to register missing persons in Mexico, since the authorities were unable to do so, so we organized ourselves thanks to two studies that won a project in England. . But they got the project and what was done for families with missing people. Therefore, Ciudadana Forensic Science (Citizen Forensic Science) to which I belong, is a humanitarian organization. Because they [the scientists] were not affected by the others for 2, 3 years and we are setting this up. So, after registering a citizen in the national register of missing persons, we are setting up a biological DNA bank per citizen. Because we know what Mexico is like, how many clandestine graves have been affected and we want our own DNA record, because we really don't trust the authorities. Because we know that there are many bodies found across the country and the authorities are not checking the DNA of those bodies. So they need ... They have bodies at the borders and we are with families. Everything we try to contrast, but we are building. But it is necessary humanitarian work. It is not mine, it belongs to all families that are in the same situation in Mexico.
Valéria Barbosa: How many families are served in this program?
Graciela Peresz: We ... reached approximately 850 families. Eight hundred and fifty registered. We are working on sampling. Sampling is the cell of the same family. I know we are not forensic experts, but we have learned. The peculiarity of this is that the authorities believed that there was nothing we could do. It is a way, because they assume that we are victims and we only need to be crying. But we are learning and showing that ... Well, if someone doesn't, we will.
Valéria Barbosa: How many victims have gone missing? You have a sense of how many people from these families, only yours are five.
Graziela Peres: Well, my family is five, but there is no exact, official number. For the authorities there is no number. They talk about 27 thousand ... They talk about, about ... That 27 thousand, three years ago, 27 thousand ... But it increased. So, it is already a situation, I say, of crime against humanity. But they don't want to consider, but they don't want to, they don't want to be investigated, they don't want to. The authorities do not want to invest. What the authorities say is that these are isolated cases, but we are thousands of families in Mexico.
Valéria Barbosa: How many people work in your organization?
Graciela Perez: When did we start?
Valéria Barbosa: How many people work in your organization? For this world of 7 thousand?
Graciela Perez: All work is voluntary. We call them ambassadors because in all states, in all municipalities, in all places where there is a disappearance situation, they are coming together. So, at least, we have an ambassador in all the states of Mexico. But they also have ambassadors like a pyramid. I mean, I have a missing family member, I join, someone has a missing family member, they join as well. There is no number, because anyone who has a missing relative can be here.
Valéria Barbosa: But a technical person to help you, to give psychological support to families, to provide infrastructure, even social, because these families must be moved ... Do you have these people in your group, who support you?
Graziela Peres: We don't do that. There are other organizations like these, which support psychologically. So we came together. We'll take care of it here. We do the registration and the biological bank. But there are other organizations that are united by those who are here. So we got together to help us on the issue of digital security, on the issue of human rights, on the issue of legal advice, on the psycho-social issue, that. So, we try to join efforts because we cannot do everything. While one is dedicated to seeking and the other helps us to heal the soul and others help us with the technological issue. We do so.
Valéria Barbosa: And to ensure your safety, who does this? Because you are handling a hornet's nest. They are moving ... Who gives you this guarantee?
Graciela Perez: Nobody. Only U.S. So, we are here, alone.
Valéria Barbosa: increasingly strengthen this network, right ?!
Graciela Perez: We are with God.
(Spanish to Portuguese translation: Adriana Kairos)
Portuguese to English. Google translator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwKDjH5oMmA
https://youtu.be/VEW2SKSjjKc