International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, August 30
On the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, observed on August 30 each year and established by the United Nations General Assembly with the adoption of resolution 65/209 on December 21, 2010, the UN draws global attention to the alarming increase in cases of enforced disappearance worldwide.
Enforced disappearance, as defined in the 1992 Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, occurs when individuals are arrested, detained, or abducted against their will by government officials or groups acting with state consent, followed by a refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared persons. According to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, when perpetrated systematically and widely against civilians, it qualifies as a crime against humanity, removing any time limitations for its prosecution.
Once primarily associated with military dictatorships, it now also occurs in situations of internal conflict and as a tool of political repression. Particularly concerning are the harassment and intimidation increasingly faced by human rights defenders and victims' families, the misuse of anti-terrorism activities by states as a pretext to violate international obligations, and the widespread impunity for these crimes.
The consequences of enforced disappearance involve multiple levels, ranging from the individual to the collective. With enforced disappearance, the victim is stripped of the protection guaranteed by the rule of law and deprived of all safeguards, making them extremely vulnerable to severe physical and psychological violence by the perpetrators of the crime. Their family members are subjected to a state of persistent psychological suffering due to the waiting they must face and the uncertainty surrounding the fate of their loved one, in addition to facing personal risks and threats in attempting to obtain more information. Moreover, they must also deal with the economic implications that the absence of their loved one determines, especially when the latter held the role of head of the family, as their access to forms of economic support is further hindered by the lack of a death certificate, an essential document in many countries to access such support. In most cases, it is women who must bear the burden of the demand for truth and justice that the disappearance of a person poses and the concrete repercussions it has on their family. All of this, finally, has destructive effects on individual communities and society as a whole, damaging their economic and social fabric.