International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances 2023: Date, History, Facts about Forced Disappearances

Every year on August 30, International Day of the Victims of Forced Disappearance is observed. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness about the number of enforced disappearances worldwide. On multiple occasions, enforced disappearance has been used to instill fear throughout society. This practise creates a feeling of uncertainty not only among immediate family members, but also within their communities. The issue of enforced disappearance has become a global phenomenon that is not restricted to a single region. Additionally, certain groups are more susceptible to this unfortunate circumstance.

The background of International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances

The Latin American Federation of Associations for Relatives of Detained-Disappeared (F.E.D.E.F.A.M), a non-governmental organisation founded in Costa Rica in 1981, inspired International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. In several Latin American nations, the organisation fought against covert imprisonment, forced disappearances, and abduction.

On August 30, 2007, the International Day of the Disappeared, hundreds of Filipino relatives and allies of the missing demonstrated against the government. Edita Burgos was one of them, remembering her son Jonas, a member of the Philippine Peasants’ Movement, who had gone AWOL. On August 30, 2008, the International Coalition against Enforced Disappearances, a global alliance of family members and human rights organisations, joined forces to promote the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

In December 1992, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance as a resolution condemning arbitrary detention as a violation of human rights. Hundreds of thousands of people have vanished during hostilities or periods of tyranny in at least 85 countries around the globe, prompting the United Nations to express concern in 2010 about the increasing incidence of enforced disappearances. During the 2011 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, the United Nations designated August 30 as the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance.

5 FACTS Concerning FORCED DISAPPEARANCES

Enforced Disappearance is especially hazardous for children, women, and people with disabilities.

The United Nations has received more than 12,000 allegations of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka since the 1980s, the second-highest number in the world.

More than 26,000 people were reported missing or disappeared in Mexico between 2006 and 2012, primarily due to drug cartel violence and security force deployments to combat organised crime.

In 2012, more than a third of the countries where Amnesty International verified enforced disappearances were in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo has failed to investigate the hundreds of enforced disappearances and kidnappings that occurred in Kosovo during and after the 1998-1989 war.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE VICTIMS OF ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES DATES