- By Reporter
UN wants nations to ratify protocol on enforced disappearances
By Our Reporter
August 30, 2020 - The United Nations on Sunday urged all member states to ratify the Convention for the Protection of all Persons against Enforced Disappearances (ICPPED).
UN Secretary General António Guterres made the call in a message commemorating this year’s International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, observed on Aug. 30 annually.
Victims of enforced disappearance are people who have literally disappeared; from their loved ones and their community. They go missing when state officials (or someone acting with state consent) grabs them from the street or from their homes and then deny it, or refuse to say where they are.
The UN Chief stated that implementation of the convention by all states is critical to elimination of “this atrocious crime”, which he said had become a global problem.
“The crime of enforced disappearance is rife across the world.
“We see new cases almost daily, including the disappearance of defenders of the environment, who are often indigenous peoples.
“Meanwhile, the excruciating pain of old cases is still acute, as the fate of thousands of disappeared people remains unknown, making the crime a continuous presence in the lives of the loved ones of the lost.”
According to the UN, enforced disappearances have transcended military dictatorships, and are now “perpetrated in complex situations of internal conflict, especially as a means of political repression of opponents”.
The UN General Assembly adopted the ICPPED text on Dec. 20, 2006, and opened it for signature on Feb. 6, 2007.
The instrument entered into force on Dec. 23, 2010, and as of today, it has been signed by 98 countries and ratified by 62.