Resurface the Disappeared!

Statement of the ILPS Commission on Peoples’ Rights and Anti-Fascism

August 30, 2024

As we mark the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearance today, August 30th, it is with renewed resolve to fight the scourge of enforced disappearance in our own countries and worldwide. 

According to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID) report from July 2024, the Working Group has transmitted a total of 61,626 cases to 115 countries since its establishment in 1980. Out of these, 48,619 cases remain under active consideration, meaning they have not yet been clarified, closed, or discontinued, spanning 100 countries. During the latest reporting period, 199 cases were successfully clarified. 

Latin America remains one of the regions most severely affected by enforced disappearances, with several countries experiencing high rates. In Colombia, more than 100,000 cases have been documented, with the number continuing to rise due to ongoing conflicts and criminal violence. Mexico also faces a dire situation, with over 100,000 disappeared persons reported since the 1960s. In Guatemala, during the civil war from 1960 to 1996, around 45,000 people were reported missing, with only a fraction of the bodies recovered. In Africa, enforced disappearances are prevalent in conflict zones and under authoritarian regimes. Countries like Nigeria, Sudan, and Rwanda have reported significant numbers of enforced disappearances, often tied to internal conflicts, political repression, or counter-terrorism operations. In Asia, enforced disappearances are most notable in countries with ongoing conflicts or authoritarian governments. Pakistan and Sri Lanka have also reported high numbers of disappearances, often linked to political repression or military operations. In the Philippines, under the current regime of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., there are at least 14 documented desaparecido cases to date. This number may rise as human rights groups verify incoming reports from the field. The vast majority of the victims are organizers of workers, peasants and other marginalized sectors of society. 

Apart from the suffering inflicted on victims and their families, enforced disappearance is likewise a brutal weapon wielded by tyrannical governments to suppress dissent and spread terror throughout the larger society. It is increasingly being brandished as governments move to crush mass upheavals for social change emerging in countries reeling under social, political and economic crises engendered by imperialism. Since enforced disappearance is a state-sponsored crime, perpetrators are expectedly shielded from accountability and justice becomes elusive to the victims and their families.

Thus, the struggle against enforced disappearance worldwide goes hand in hand with the struggles of peoples across countries to defeat imperialism, do away with systemic oppression and exploitation and remove tyrannical governments from power.

ILPS joins efforts by human rights organizations to have the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance signed and ratified in countries that have not yet done so. Beyond this, we pledge unflinching solidarity for organizations dedicated to raising awareness for, and fighting the scourge, of enforced disappearance. We further raise the banner of resistance against the evils of imperialist exploitation and oppression which have given rise to tyranny, fascism and injustice and make possible the dastardly crime of enforced disappearance.

We vow to keep alive the stories of the disappeared until justice has been attained for each and every one of them and the perpetrators held fully accountable for their crimes. ###