Forced disappearance
 Forced disappearance    | |
|---|---|
 | |
| "Forced disappearance" of someone is their secret abduction or imprisonment, typically by a political organisation or national government. |
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance (or enforced disappearance) occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate and whereabouts, with the intent of placing the victim outside the protection of the law.[1]
Contents
International Convention against Forced Disappearance
 Parties and signatories to the ICAPED:
signed and ratified
signed but not ratified
neither signed nor ratified | |
| Type | United Nations General Assembly Resolution |
|---|---|
| Drafted | 29 June 2006 |
| Signed | 20 December 2006 |
| Location | Paris |
| Effective | 23 December 2010 |
| Condition | 32 ratifications |
On 20 December 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which provides for the right not to be subjected to enforced disappearance, as well as the right for the relatives of the disappeared person to know the truth. The Convention also contains several provisions concerning prevention, investigation and sanctioning of this crime, as well as the rights of victims and their relatives, and the wrongful removal of children born during their captivity. It was signed immediately by 57 countries, and entered into effect with the 32nd ratification on 23 December 2010. By March 2014, it had 93 signatories and 42 parties.[2]
The area of the world in which the ratification rate has been the highest is South America, where under Operation Condor, tens of thousands of people were disappeared under US-backed military dictatorships. Support is also quite high in Europe, with most EC members ratifying. Notable failures to sign included US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and China.
Selected nations
For a more complete list see the wikipedia article on this topic.
Argentina
Argentina was the second nation state to ratify the UN convention against forced disappearance.[2]Under the Dirty War, maybe 15-30 thousand people were 'disappeared', tortured by the military dictatorship in the 1970s.
Switzerland
In 2009, Robert Fisk reported that refugee and professor of law El Ghanem had been "disappeared" by the Swiss government, in light of the fact that they were refusing to acknowledge his whereabouts. Switzerland signed the UN convention in 2011, but has still not ratified it (as of March 2014).[2]
United States
At a State Department press briefing, a spokesman said that he couldn't "give you specific reasons here from the podium as to why we didn't sign on to it", but added that it did not meet "our needs and expectations". The CIA engages in forced disappearance of prisoners of war in the course of its "war on terror" as Bob Baer has noted.[3][4]
