The United Nations (UN) has marked the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances this Sunday, putting victims and their families at the heart of calls for global action under the theme “Victims first. Actions now.”
The annual observance marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the primary universal legal framework aimed at eradicating state-sanctioned abductions and secret detentions.
Human rights experts at the UN warned that hundreds of thousands of people remain missing across at least 85 countries due to armed conflict, political repression, and state security operations. The world body highlighted persistent challenges, including widespread impunity for perpetrators, the misuse of counter-terrorism measures to justify unlawful detentions, and ongoing intimidation against families seeking truth.
Under international law, an enforced disappearance occurs when state officials, or groups acting with state authorization, arrest, detain, or abduct individuals and subsequently refuse to acknowledge their whereabouts, depriving them of legal protection and exposing them to severe risks of torture or death.
–ChannelAfrica/UN–
