International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances 2021: Let’s Prioritize Recognizing and Preventing Enforced Disappearances as a Major Human Rights Issue across the Globe

By Harrish Thirukumaran

Enforced disappearance has frequently been used as a strategy to spread terror within the society. The feeling of insecurity generated by this practice is not limited to the close relatives of the disappeared, but also affects their communities and society as a whole.

On August 30, 2021, the United Nations will recognize the deep concern about the increase in enforced or involuntary disappearances in various regions of the world. This includes arrest, detention and abduction. These along with the growing number of reports concerning harassment, ill-treatment and intimidation of witnesses of disappearances or relatives of persons who have disappeared are part of or amount to enforced disappearances. The UN General Assembly passed resolution 65/209 on December 21, 2010, to officially commemorate this day.

At the same time with this resolution, the Assembly welcomed the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and decided to declare August 30 the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, to be observed beginning in 2011.

United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres has made a statement on the political and social significance of this day, “Impunity compounds the suffering and anguish. Under international human rights law, families and societies have a right to know the truth about what happened. I call on Member States to fulfil this responsibility.”

There are many that are affected by enforced disappearances. For example, the victims are frequently tortured and in constant fear for their lives. They are well aware that their families do not know what has become of them and that the chances are slim that anyone will come to their aid. Having been removed from the protective precinct of the law and “disappeared” from society, they are in fact deprived of all their rights and are at the mercy of their captors.

Next, families and friends of the victims, experience slow mental anguish, not knowing whether the victim is still alive and, if so, where he or she is being held, under what conditions, and in what state of health. They alternate between hope and despair, wondering and waiting, sometimes for years, for news that may never come. Communities are directly affected by the disappearance of breadwinners, and the degradation of the families’ economic situation and their social marginalization.

Enforced disappearance is not a crime of the past. It is practiced by governments in every region, and in many countries is increasing. That’s why the UN Human Rights Office has launched an initiative to double the number of ratifications of the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance within five years.

The ideal way to commemorate this day of observance is submitting cases of disappearance to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. It accepts cases from any country in the world. It is not necessary to exhaust domestic remedies before submitting a case to the Group. The cases of disappearance can be submitted by relatives of disappeared, or by organizations acting on their behalf. More information can be found at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disappearances/Pages/DisappearancesIndex.aspx.

So, as we continue to recover from the pandemic, let’s prioritize recognizing and preventing enforced disappearances as a major human rights issue across the globe.

Written in August 2021