He accompanied hundreds of families who, like her, faced the pain for forced disappearance.
News Colombia.
THE HUMAN RIGHT DEFENSOR Yanette Bautista Montañez He died on September 1, 2025, leaving an indelible legacy in the history of Colombia. His life was marked by the forced disappearance of his sister, Nydia Érika Bautista, in 1987, a fact that transformed his pain into a collective cause. Since then, Yanette became one of the strongest and most persistent voices in the denunciation of forced disappearances and the defense of the rights of victims and their families.
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In 1999, after years of threats and exile, he founded with his daughter Andrea the Nydia Érika Bautista Foundation, an organization dedicated to legal, psychosocial and political accompaniment of the victims of forced disappearance. Under its leadership, the Foundation accompanied more than 500 cases throughout the country, providing support to families who, like their own, faced the pain of silence and institutional oblivion. Yanette managed to build a space that dignified the memory of the disappeared and strengthened the social fabric of those who seek justice.
With deep pain, we communicate the departure of our director and woman seeking, Yanette Bautista.
His life was a beacon of dignity and resistance. With courage he opened his way for hundreds of women to hug the struggle for truth and justice, sowing in each … pic.twitter.com/ykzufbmtw5
– Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation for rights H (@nydia_erika) SEPTEMBER 1, 2025
His work was recognized both nationally and internationally. In 2023 he received the National Human Rights Award “a lifetime”, as a tribute to his tireless struggle. He was also accredited by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) as a special victim and intervening in processes related to forced disappearance and gender violence, a recognition that came just three months before his death.
One of its most significant achievements was the approval, in April 2024, of the Women’s Women’s Law, a regulation promoted by Yanette and other groups, which recognizes these women as subjects of special constitutional protection. This law was conceived as a tool to guarantee the safety, well -being and social recognition of those who dedicate their lives to seeking the disappeared, often under conditions of vulnerability and risk.
Various national and international organizations lamented their death. The UN Human Rights Office in Colombia, UN Women, and the Victims Unit highlighted their commitment, courage and their ability to transform pain into resistance. “She never stopped, despite threats, stigmatization, persecution and exile,” said the United Nations, while other entities underlined their role as a reference for the new generations of defenders and defenders.
The name of Yanette Bautista will be inscribed in the history of Colombia as that of a woman who fought against oblivion and sowed memory, truth and justice in a country that still faces the sequelae of the conflict. His departure leaves a huge vacuum, but also a luminous legacy that will remain alive in every woman seeking, in every mother, daughter or sister who does not cease in her search. Yanette’s fight continues, now in the hands of those who, like her, refuse to surrender.
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