FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 96 - ENGLISH

PAMPLONA SUMMER COURSE When a person disappears as a conse- quence of terrorism, a particularly pain- ful dimension is added to the violence of the crime: uncertainty. Without a body, a conclusive explanation or a fully establi- shed truth, families’ suffering continues for years, even decades. This little-known but profoundly human reality was the fo- cus of the fifth edition of the Public Uni- versity of Navarre’s (UPNA) Summer Courses, organised with the Memorial Centre for the Victims of Terrorism, the Victims of Terrorism Foundation and the I-Communitas Institute for Advanced Social Research. The event in Pamplona brought toge- ther researchers, journalists, writers and victims’ relatives to reflect on a pheno- menon crossing borders and eras: disa- ppearances linked to terrorist violence. Through lectures, discussions and round tables, it addressed the problem’s histori- cal and political dimensions alongside its personal and social consequences. From the outset, the course’s director, lecturer and researcher Marta Rodrí- guez Fouz, stressed the need to keep alive the memory of those still missing and of those who continue to suffer the consequences of their absence. She reca- lled that behind every case are families whose experience does not end with the crime, but is marked by an endless wait. Academic work and the building of de- mocratic remembrance, she emphasised, only acquire their full meaning when the public is willing to listen and understand. SUMMER COURSE AT THE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY OF NAVARRE TERRORISM’S DISAPPEARED: REMEMBRANCE AGAINST SILENCE ` Álvaro Baraibar (I-Communitas), Florencio Domínguez (Memorial Centre for the Victims of Terrorism), Begoña Pérez Eransus (UPNA), Juan Francisco Benito (Victims of Terrorism Foundation) and Marta Rodríguez Fouz (UPNA/course director) Representatives of the organising insti- tutions also participated in the opening, agreeing on the importance of breaking through oblivion and giving visibility to those who have suffered twice: through murder or kidnapping and through sub- sequent disappearance. The President of the Victims of Terrorism Foundation, Juan Francisco Benito, argued that spea- king about the disappeared is an act of justice and recognition towards families who, in many cases, are still searching for answers decades after the events. The speakers stressed that terrorism sought not only to inflict harm through direct violence, but sometimes also to erase the traces of its crimes. Victims’ disappearance prolongs terror’s impact beyond the attack itself and makes emo- tional closure harder for those left be- hind. Florencio Domínguez, Director of the Memorial Centre for the Victims of Terrorism, recalled that while murder causes a devastating loss, disappearan- ce adds lasting uncertainty that prevents the grieving process from reaching a conclusion. Participants also warned of the risks po- sed by time. As years pass, the chances of obtaining relevant information about some EDUCATION AND COEXISTENCE 36