The Day of the Disappeared: Enforced

disappearances continue unabated in every

region of the world

27 August 2015
The use of enforced disappearance by governments to silence its critics and instil fear
into targeted groups continues unabated in every region of the world, said Amnesty
International as the world marks the International Day of the Disappeared on 30
August.
The organization is currently actively campaigning on the cases of more than 500
individuals who have been subjected to enforced disappearance, and is continuing to
pressure governments to determine the fate and whereabouts of all those who have
been disappeared.
Governments in every region of the world, from Syria to Mexico and from Sri
Lanka to Gambia may be holding hundreds or even thousands in secret
detention.

Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's Secretary General

Governments in every region of the world, from Syria to Mexico and from Sri Lanka
to Gambia may be holding hundreds or even thousands in secret detention. In many
countries, the authorities continue harassing and intimidating those who are looking
for their relatives. The struggle for justice must not cease, said Salil Shetty, Amnesty
Internationals Secretary General.
As we mark the International Day of the Disappeared, we offer our support to all the
victims and families of those forcibly disappeared and illegally detained by state
authorities across the world. Governments in countries where enforced disappearances
are occurring must come under greater pressure to stamp out this abhorrent practice.
Enforced disappearances are perpetrated by state agents or people acting on their
behalf with a refusal to acknowledge this or conceal the persons fate or whereabouts,
placing them outside the protection of the law.
Disappearances frequently follow a pattern: once arrested, the victims almost never
appear before a court and there is almost never a record of their crime or their
detention. Once out of the public eye, individuals subjected to enforced disappearance
are at great risk of ill-treatment, torture and even death.
This year Amnesty International is urging dozens of governments who employ
enforced disappearances against their opponents to stop using this tactic once and for
all. On the International Day of the Disappeared the organization is highlighting cases
from each of its global regions.
Middle East and North Africa Syria
In Syria almost 85,000 people have been forcibly disappeared between 2011 and 2015
according to Amnesty International sources. Civilians continue to be disappeared at an

alarming rate with those documented by the organisation now including new groups,
not only political opponents, human rights defenders and activists, but people such as
teachers and civilians who have merely crossed into government controlled territory to
collect state salaries.
Rania Alabbasi and her six children aged between three and 15-years-old were arrested
by the Syrian authorities in March 2013. None of the family has been heard from since.
Despite requests from their relatives, the Syrian authorities have given no information
about what has happened to them, where they are or why they were arrested.
Rania Alabbasis sister, Naila Alabbasi, told Amnesty International:
She thought she and her family were safe because they had not participated
in any political activities or belonged to any opposition party.
Naila Alabbasi, sister of disappeared Syrian Rania Alabbasi
When the uprising started, she did not want to leave. She thought she and her family
were safe because they had not participated in any political activities or belonged to
any opposition party. They did not go to any demonstrations. So she thought nothing
would happen to them.
We do not know anything about them. All attempts to find out anything have been
unsuccessful we must not forget Rania, her family and the other prisoners in similar
situations. Let us all raise our voices for their release.
From August 30th Amnesty International supporters can petition the Syrian
government to cease all enforced disappearances and allow UN officials into Syria to
carry out independent investigations.
The Americas Mexico
According to official figures, nearly 25,000 people have disappeared or gone missing in

Mexico since 2007, almost half of them during the current administration of President
Pea Nieto.
The issue hit international headlines in September 2014 after the disappearance of 43
students of the Ayotzinapa rural teacher-training college in Mexicos Guerrero State
The students were en-route to protests against government education reforms, when
they were attacked by police and gunmen in Iguala. Three students were killed.
Eyewitnesses saw police taking other students away. A day later the tortured body of
student Julio Csar Mondragn was found and the families of the remaining 42
students were left to agonize about the fate of their loved ones.
At first, authorities claimed no knowledge of where they were, but then months later
they gave an account that has since been contested by the families and their
representatives.
Despite worldwide attention on the issue, the Mexican authorities have failed to
properly investigate all lines of the case, especially the worrying allegations of
complicity by armed forces. However they have uncovered collusion between local
officials and gangs.
Mexican students, families, and citizens from all walks of life have courageously taken
to the streets in the hundreds of thousands to call for action. Omar, a friend of one of
the students told Amnesty International that they will continue in their struggle for
truth, justice and reparations.
The government's response has been nothing but disrespectful and insensitive. I'm
alarmed about what happened but I'm not afraid. We will never give up our fight for
justice, he said.

Amnesty International has organised a letter campaign in Spanish urging Mexicos

president to properly investigate the thousands of disappearances:
Asia Sri Lanka
Tens of thousands are presumed to have disappeared in the conflict between the Tamil
Tigers and the military which ended in 2009, and in an earlier counter insurgency
campaign by the security forces against leftists in 1989-90.Very few cases have been
resolved and there has been blatant intimidation reported against families who have
dared to ask questions about the whereabouts of their loved ones.
Several commissions have been appointed by successive governments since 1990
implicating leading politicians and high ranking officers in the police and security
forces. However, the authorities have mostly ignored recommendations that these
figures, some of whom remain in their positions, should be prosecuted.
Now, even in peacetime, the disappearances continue: newspaper cartoonist Prageeth
Egnalikoda was disappeared shortly before the 2010 presidential election.
His wife Sandya told Amnesty International that seeing justice done and the
perpetrators convicted has become Sandyas main struggle in life now. The main
breadwinner of our family is absent it puts a huge financial strain on us. Also I have
to be father and mother to our children. This is a common struggle for families of the
disappeared, she said.
Sri Lankans at home and abroad are encouraged to enter a poetry competition to mark
the decades of disappearances titled Silenced Shadows. For more information email:
info.poetry@amnesty.org
Europe - Bosnia and Herzegovina

The fate of more than 8,000 people remains unknown after Bosnia and Herzegovinas
conflict in the 1990s. Even after two decades authorities across the country continue to
fail the families of those who disappeared. The state has failed to fully implement the
Law on Missing Persons which requires the authorities to search for all those missing
and properly establish a fund to support victims and families.
"The law only exists on paper. Nobody respects it, Zumra Sehomerovic, the vicepresident of the Movement of Mothers of the Srebrenica and epa enclaves said.
When we go to the authorities, for instance to register a missing person at the
municipality to obtain a certificate, we are treated dismissively.
Amnesty International is calling on the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia
and Herzegovina to ensure the authorities search for all victims of enforced
disappearances from the war and to provide their relatives with reparations.
Supporters of this call to action can write a letter to the chairman here:
Africa Gambia
Journalists in many African states face government intimidation and prosecution. One
of the most restrictive regimes is Gambia. In April 2004, President Yahya Jammeh
called on journalists to obey his government "or go to hell".
In July 2006, journalist Ebrima Manneh of The Daily Observer was reportedly
arrested by state security after attempting to republish a BBC report criticizing
President Jammeh shortly before an African Union meeting in Banjul. His arrest was
witnessed by co-workers.
After repeated attempts by his father and fellow journalists to find him, the
Government issued an official statement in February 2007 denying his arrest or any

knowledge of his whereabouts. In 2008 the community court of justice of the

Economic Community of West African States ruled that his arrest and detention was
illegal and ordered the Gambian authorities to immediately release him. It also
ordered that US $100,000 in damages be paid to him. The judgement has yet to be
enforced.
The Gambian government insists it has searched all prisons and can find no trace of
him. However, recent reports suggest that he is being held without charge at Fatoto
Police Station in Eastern Gambia. Amnesty International considers him to be a
prisoner of conscience and calls for his immediate and unconditional release. His
whereabouts remain unknown.
Posted by Thavam