Enforced disappearance inflicts profound suffering on victims and violates their right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment

 

To mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, international* and regional** Human Rights experts call on States to end the practice of enforced disappearance and avoid the profound suffering endured by its victims, to take preventive measures, and to ensure they receive adequate remedies for the harm suffered, and perpetrators receive proportionate punishment. They issued the following joint statement today: Enforced disappearances entail a serious violation of multiple human rights, inflicting profound suffering, experienced not only by those who are forcibly disappeared, but also by their families, their communities, and by society as a whole. They are often practiced as a deliberate strategy of control through terror intended to cause suffering, instill fear, suppress dissent, and punish entire communities. Their commission involves varying degrees of participation, acquiescence, or omission by State agents. Any act of enforced disappearance places the persons subjected thereto outside the protection of the law and at high risk of being subjected to serious human rights violations. It constitutes a violation of both international and domestic laws that guarantee, among others, the right to recognition as a person before the law, the right to liberty and security of the person an the right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It also constitutes a grave threat to the right to life. The prolonged isolation and deprivation of communication with the outside world, to which forcibly disappeared persons are subjected, are harmful to their psychological integrity and that of their relatives, and constitute a violation of the prohibition of torture and/or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Enforced disappearances prevent monitoring by national preventive mechanisms and other competent bodies, facilitating the commission of torture and/or other forms of cruel treatment. Decades of documentation of this heinous crime show how the practice has often served as a means to circumvent fundamental legal safeguards, including limitations to the duration of deprivation of liberty and the prohibition of violent interrogation methods. Various international and regional human rights bodies, including the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Committee against Torture, the Human Rights Committee, and the European Court of Human Rights, have recognized enforced disappearances as a form of torture or other ill-treatment against the forcibly disappeared individuals and/or their families. The Committee on Enforced Disappearances and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances view with concern the continuous torture inflicted upon the relatives of the forcibly disappeared persons. The daily anguish of not knowing their fate and whereabouts, the fear of never seeing them again, as well as the silence, inaction, official indifference, and impunity that usually surround this crime, inflict on relatives unimaginable pain and despair. Scores of heart-breaking testimonies by family members refer to these experiences as a form of psychological torture or cruel treatment. The psychological toll on family members is devastating and transgenerational, entailing lasting physical and mental health consequences such as depression, anxiety and profound trauma. Women, in particular, often bear a disproportionate burden, in most cases abruptly having to assume new roles as search organizers, advocates, on top of the additional caring or financial responsibilities they have to assume to their families. Children grow up in the shadows of fear, doubt and anxiety created by the enforced disappearance, and the rupture of the family structure. On this International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, we urgently call on all States to strengthen their policies to prevent and eradicate this crime and to guarantee the right of relatives of disappeared persons and society as a whole to know the truth about the fate and whereabouts of those forcibly disappeared, as well as access to justice and integral reparations. We acknowledge the shared aspiration that was recalled by all participants to the World Congress on Enforced Disappearance in January 2025 for truth, healing, and dignity, and reaffirm the value of constructive dialogue and cooperation in fostering a more humane and caring society. Enforced disappearance is a wound that corrodes the fabric of society. It is a form of torture and/or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment that must be condemned unequivocally, prevented and eradicated through collective action, effective prevention, accountability, and sustained support for victims, including through the implementation of the pledges made at the World Congress on Enforced Disappearances. We stand in solidarity with all those affected by enforced disappearances and reaffirm our commitment to truth, justice, rehabilitation, and reparations for all victims. This is the occasion for the remaining States that have not yet ratified the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons against Enforced Disappearance and the InterAmerican Convention on Forced Disappearance to do their part to eradicate this heinous crime, starting with committing today to ratify them. 

*UN experts: the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances; the Working Group onEnforced or Involuntary Disappearances; the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel,inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment: the Committee Against Torture; theSubcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatmentor Punishment; and the Board of Trustees of the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.**Regional Human Rights Experts: the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; Hon. Idrissa Sow (Chairperson), Working Group on Death Penalty, Extrajudicial, Summary orArbitrary Killings, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights; H.E. Asst. Prof. Dr. Bhanubhatra Jittiang, Representative of Thailand to the ASEAN IntergovernmentalCommission on Human Rights; and Mr. Michael O' Flaherty, Commissioner for HumanRights of the Council of Europe.

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