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| Remembering Argentina's Disappeared |
[Apologies, I don't know the source of this image]
August is 30th is the Day we remember the victims of enforced disappearance. Here we are mostly talking about government sponsored or condoned disappearances. There isn’t a region in the world which doesn’t have them and to their shame, 118 out of 193 UN member countries have not yet signed the Convention on the Prevention of Enforced Disappearances. In broad terms, this Convention adopted in 2010 covers the following points:
- Enforced Disappearance means the arrest, detention abduction or other forms of deprivation of liberty or concealing the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person.
- No exceptional circumstances - not war, nor internal political instability, can be invoked to justify such actions.
- UN member states have a duty to prevent enforced disappearance, to investigate all allegations and to prosecute those responsible.
- Victims and their families have a right to justice, reparations and the right to the truth about the disappearance.
- Countries will cooperate internationally in investigation and prosecution.
- They will implement the requirements of the Convention and accept monitoring by the Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
[See The Fact Sheet on Enforced Disappearances for details].
The latest signatories include Thailand, South Korea, The Maldives and the Côte D’Ivoire. Read more here. Enforced Disappearance contravenes a number of other Conventions and is in fact a Crime Against Humanity. This means that no Statute of Limitations applies and that perpetrators can be prosecuted and held accountable long after the event. It also means that victims and their families can seek redress even many decades later.
In 2021 it was revealed that Mexico had 95,000 ‘disappeared’ people. As the High Commissioner for Human Rights remarked, “Mexico cannot move forward without addressing the shadows of the past.”
SPAIN
‘The shadows of the past’ are certainly coming to haunt
Spain. In an earlier story (2018), it was announced that Spain planned to
embark on a truth commission into the Civil War and military dictatorship of
the Franco era which ran from 1936 -75. During his reign an estimated 140,000 people disappeared
along with an estimated 300,000 babies who were taken from their families and
given to people who were loyal to Franco. While Spain officially holds the bleak record of being the second worst country with regard to having the most politically motivated disappearances, other countries are rapidly catching up. Spain has now passed several laws to recognise victims, to support victims and their families and to help them with exhumation and the identification of remains found in the country’s many unmarked graves. However, a 1977 Amnesty Law to permit a rapid transition to democracy, continues to prevent prosecution.
CAMBODIA
By far the worst record belongs to Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime which managed to ‘disappear’ between 1.5 and 2 million people – one quarter of its population, between 1975 -1979. In recent years, Cambodia has taken several significant steps to address the atrocities committed during the Khmer Rouge era:
- Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC): Established in 2001, this hybrid court has been instrumental in prosecuting senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge and provided an opportunity for victims to tell their stories and seek redress.
- Memorials and Education: Along with educational programs, sites like the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Choeung Ek Killing Fields seek to ensure that future generations understand their country's history and preserve peace and stability in future.
- Reconciliation Efforts: Various civil society organizations and government initiatives have focused on reconciliation and healing.
- International Support: The international community has played a significant role in supporting Cambodia’s efforts to address its past, by providing financial and technical assistance to the Court and for other initiatives which promote justice and reconciliation.
ARGENTINA
Unfortunately, because there have been so many recent cases, Human Rights Organisations such as Amnesty have had to concentrate their efforts on those which have occurred only in the last decade or so.
SYRIA
Among the more recent cases are at least 82,000 Syrians who have been ‘disappeared' since 2011. While it is assumed that many are in detention centres, the deaths of at least 161 individuals have been confirmed.
SRI LANKA
Sixty thousand to 100,000 people have also disppeared in Sri Lanka since the late 1980s, including those who surrendered after the country’s civil war. Although Sri Lanka has criminalised such enforced disappearances since 2018, progress with respect to investigation remains slow.
Below are some of the other recent incidents. I have only
included some of the shorter videos. It doesn’t mean other countries are
necessarily doing better. An estimated two thousand people are missing in the Philippines, stretching back as far as the earlier Marcos regime.
THE PHILIPPINES
EGYPT
PAKISTAN
BANGLADESH
In countries which experience such events, it isn't only the families of the disappeared who suffer. Fear haunts the streets. It has a chilling effect on democracy and the trauma can last for many generations, especially as they often lose their best and brightest and their potential leaders. In consequence, we must not only guard against and take action to end enforced disappearances in our own country, but support those countries which have experienced them.
The agencies which can help are listed below. For obvious reasons, unlike other missing persons cases, you do not have to report to national or local authorities first. Should you know of any places of illegal detention or burial sites, you should discreetly report them to the these agencies too.
To help stamp out such practices, you should also take an active part in ensuring the laws and institutions in your country recognise and uphold the rights of others and support those organisations which do this work.
WHO TO CONTACT
If you have a family member whom you suspect to be missing or dead in these circumstances, report directly to The UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances (see below) by simply downloading the form and submitting it by email or mail. For greater anonymity you can also have Non -Government Organisations act on your behalf – see also the list on the previous post.
WORKING GROUP ON ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES (WGEID),UNITED NATIONS
You may report a missing persons case directly to the United Nations WGEID. The WGEID does not itself carry out investigations but assists families in their communications with the government concerned. It cannot act in cases which occurred before a country signed the Convention, however these can be reported to the for inclusion in its annual report and address to The Human Rights Council.
Where states are signatories, the WGEID examines and transmits to governments reports of enforced disappearances, asking governments to carry out investigations and to inform the WGEID of the results. In cases where there is the risk of retaliation or intimidation it can insist that countries ensure protection.
It is National Human Rights Organisations and Non - Government Organisations such as Amnesty who directly help and support victims and their families. They can put in urgent action requests on behalf of victims and accept individual complaints.
11 REGIONAL INTERNATIONAL COURTS have accepted complaints with respect missing and disappeared people, but you must have exhausted all available legal remedies at the national level before your complaints regarding a human rights violation can be accepted by an international court.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Amnesty International is a 7 million -strong international non – government organisation, independent of government, political ideology, economic interest or religion, funded almost entirely by its members and donations. It calls on governments to prosecute those responsible for enforced disappearances and make them illegal under National law, with appropriate penalties.
It asks them to sign the International Convention and to accept the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) to act as a competent authority for receiving claims by victims or from others on their behalf.
It also provides support and calls on governments to make sure that victims and their families receive compensation, rehabilitation, restitution and a guarantee that it won’t happen again.
Lastly, it asks that laws such as Spain’s Amnesty Law and
others such as Statutes of Limitation, be set aside, so that perpetrators are
no longer immune from prosecution.
With Spring starting in the Southern Hemisphere and Autumn in the North, I think it's time for some happier news. Watch out for the next post!
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