Enforced disappearance a serious human rights violation, used to spread terror — Global Issues

Forced disappearance is a crime Usually carried out by State agents through kidnapping and arrest, the United Nations said, with victims often being held in secret.

Some suffered torture and brief executions, while their fates were kept secret, from their families and society at large.

The Commission and Working Group on Forced Disappearances – the main UN mechanism for dealing with this – receives new cases daily.

The International Convention for the Protection of Persons from Forced Disappearance entered into force in 2010, affirms the right of any victim to know the truth about the circumstances of a forced disappearance, as well as the fate of the missing person.

Human rights issue

Taken out of the reach of the law, and “disappeared” from society, the victim has practically been deprived of all his rights.

A number of human rights that are forcibly missing are frequently violated, including the right to freedom and security of the person, and the right to identity.

Strategies to spread terror

Furthermore, forced disappearance is considered a human rights violation rather than a human rights violation, and is often used as a strategy to sow terror across communities.

Becoming a global issue – and not just limited to a specific region of the world – it can occur today in complex situations of internal conflict, especially when the media political pressure on opponents.

Hundreds of thousands of people have disappeared in conflicts or periods of repression in at least 85 countries around the world.