United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has urged countries to fulfill their obligations toward preventing and prosecuting cases of enforced disappearance, a “cowardly practice” which the Coronavirus pandemic has made even more difficult to combat.
Guterres made the appeal in his message to mark the International Day honouring victims of this serious human rights violation, observed on August 30. Enforced disappearance refers to the arrest, detention or abduction of persons by agents of the State, or those acting with State authorization or support, whose whereabouts are unknown. Once largely the product of military dictatorships, it has become a global problem, according to the UN, with hundreds of thousands of people disappearing in more than 80 countries. Similarly, impunity remains widespread. While strictly prohibited under international human rights law, Guterres said enforced disappearance continues to be used across the world as a method of repression, terror, and stifling dissent.
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