Of all serious human rights violations, enforced disappearance may be the cruelest in its mechanics: it leaves no body, no grave, no certainty. It strips the victim of liberty while simultaneously erasing them from the protection of the law, denying any information about their whereabouts or fate. That is why it is considered a continuing...
Every 30 August, the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances compels us to pause and face up to one of the cruellest forms of violence that exists: that of snatching a person away, erasing all trace of them and then denying any information about their whereabouts. This year, the date coincides with a...
The recent sessions of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) and the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, held in Geneva on September 16 and 29, sent a clear message: while enforced disappearances continue to rise in the context of conflict, migration, and repression, international mechanisms are facing unprecedented obstacles that threaten their...
Recently, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances published a highly significant study on universal criminal jurisdiction in cases of enforced disappearance. The report examines the normative foundations, practical and political challenges in its application, as well as the situation in various countries, including Spain. The debate on universal jurisdiction in cases of...
On 8 July, María Bueno, president of the Alumbra Association and the International Platform Te Estamos Buscando (We Are Looking for You), received an official certificate from the Civil Registry recognising the civil existence of her daughter María, born on Christmas Day 1981 in a village in the province of Cádiz. Her case is one...
We had the honor of attending the First International Congress on Enforced Disappearances, held from January 15 to 16 in Geneva. This landmark event was co-organized by the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED), the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), the UN Human Rights Office, and the Convention against Enforced Disappearances...
Since 2011, the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances has been commemorated every 30 August. This was established in 2010 by resolution A/RES/65/209 of the United Nations General Assembly, which expressed concern about the increase in enforced disappearances around the world and the growing number of reports of harassment of witnesses or relatives...
