2 April 2025
That’s one of the alarming updates
shared by Volker Türk during a General Assembly briefing on
Wednesday, the first informal meeting dedicated to the issue
of the thousands who go missing after being targeted each
year.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights urged
Member States to do more to address the “unprecedented”
rise in disappearances, largely driven by armed conflict and
growing disregard for international humanitarian
law.
“Persistent impunity for violations of
international humanitarian law fuels more abuses,” he told
delegates, calling the scale of the crisis
“enormous”.
While the meeting focused on missing
persons in armed conflict, disappearances today are also
linked to State repression, counter-terrorism measures,
migration and the targeting of dissidents and human rights
defenders.
“It is precisely in circumstances of
conflict, instability, and repression that people are likely
to go missing,” Mr. Türk stressed. “Accountability for
those violations is crucial.”
Echoing this
sentiment, the President of the General Assembly, Philémon
Yang, insisted: “We have a moral responsibility to
determine and find every missing person.”
‘Tip of
a very large iceberg’
The Working Group on Enforced
and Involuntary Disappearances has handled more than 62,000
cases across 115 countries in the past 45 years. “Sadly,
this is just the tip of a very large iceberg,” said Mr.
Türk.
Mr. Yang expressed that these figures demand
“that we take decisive steps to lessen the hardship and
distress.”
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The High Commissioner pointed to recent
momentum in addressing the issue, including this year’s
UN-organized First World Congress on Enforced
Disappearances, where governments, civil society and
victims’ groups gathered in a show of global
solidarity.
A call for stronger frameworks
Mr.
Türk outlined three key areas for action, beginning with
the need to strengthen and implement international human
rights frameworks.
He urged States to ratify and
implement the International Convention for the Protection of
All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted in 2006 and
described as the “key global agreement” on the issue.
Only 77 countries have ratified it so far.
The
Convention guarantees the right to know the truth about the
fate and whereabouts of disappeared persons and the progress
of investigations – “exactly what family members need
and demand,” said Mr. Türk.
“We must pursue
justice and other forms of accountability,” continued Mr.
Türk, pointing to widespread impunity as a major obstacle
to reparations for victims.
“For families,
accountability begins with knowing the truth about the fate
of their loved ones, regardless of how they went missing,”
he said.
He called on States to thoroughly investigate
cases, bring perpetrators to justice and build up forensic,
judicial and law enforcement institutions to ensure proper
identification.
Centre the victims
Mr. Türk
said placing victims at the heart of the response is
crucial. He emphasised the critical role of families,
especially women, who often lead the search for loved ones
in precarious and dangerous circumstances.
“In some
cases, the law prevents them from obtaining the documents
needed to exercise their rights to health, to education, or
to property,” Mr. Türk noted, which leaves them
stigmatised and at risk of falling into
poverty.
Family members are often ignored,
disbelieved, or intimidated into silence. “They must feel
able – and safe – to speak out for their missing
relatives, at home and abroad,” Mr. Türk
insisted.
Momentum for change
International
efforts can make a real difference, the High Commissioner
said, referencing the recent creation of the Independent
Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic,
established to clarify the fate of missing persons in the
country and support survivors and their families.
In
February, the institution’s head visited Damascus and met
dozens of families – some of whom were being asked about
their missing loved ones for the first time
ever.
‘Our common humanity demands
it’
Concluding his remarks, Mr. Türk reaffirmed the
commitment of his Office to support victims and help States
meet their obligations.
OHCHR continues to promote the
ratification and implementation of the Convention, follow up
on individual cases and connect victims with UN human rights
mechanisms.
“We all have a role to play,” he said.
“We must commit, together, to doing more for truth and
justice, in solidarity with victims everywhere. Our common
humanity demands
it.”
