30 AUGUST 2009 In a statement to mark the International Day of the Disappeared, a group of independent UN experts has highlighted the growing number, and lack of reporting, of enforced disappearances around the world. Since its inception in 1980, more than 50,000 cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances have been examined by this UN panel. An 'enforced of involuntary disappearance' is defined as an arrest, detention or abduction carried out by the state (or agents acting on behalf of the state) that the state subsequently denies or tries to conceal the details of. This effectively places the victim outside the protection of the law. In many cases, the fate of the victim remains unknown. The group also urged governments to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The Convention, the first legally-binding treaty to deal with enforced disappearance, opened for signature in 2006 but is not yet in force. Twenty countries must ratify the treaty for it to take effect. At present, only 13 states have done so. The UK has not yet signed the Convention. Click here to read the text of the Convention Click here for more information on the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances Click here for the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances "When we started, no one took us seriously. People called us crazy. In a way, perhaps we were crazy because of our grief and pain. If we went to the police to report the disappearances, the police would say, Oh yes, don't worry, your son has probably gone away with his girlfriend. Many people were also scared and ignored us. It was important for us to form the group, to have other mothers uplifting each others spirit." Interview in the Jakarta Post with Lydia Taty Almeida, member of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo (now grandmothers), an organisation of Argentine mothers whose children disappeared during the Dirty War of 1976-1983. Since 1977, the mothers have walked around the Plaza de Mayo for 30 minutes every Thursday afternoon. |
"Two people came to our door, in uniforms. They were armed... I asked where they were taking him again and he showed the pistol again, and then they took him out. I ran after them, and they had two vans, white and blue." Wife of 21-year-old Ramakrishnan Rajkumar (disappeared on 23 August 2006 from Colombo, Sri Lanka) speaking to Human Rights Watch
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“My husband was devoted to saving lives, no matter what their nationality or religion. He was a great man and I am proud of him: a humanist, a surgeon, a member of the medical association. He stayed to carry on; he believed that [UNSC] Resolution 1244 meant something.” Andrij Tomanović speaking to Amnesty International. Her husband, who worked as a surgeon in Pristina Hospital for 36 years,was abducted outside the hospital on 24 June 1999.
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