{"id":28880,"date":"2019-08-29T19:50:22","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T19:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/?p=28880"},"modified":"2025-12-13T20:44:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T20:44:56","slug":"searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/","title":{"rendered":"Searching for answers: The immense human rights work still to be done in face of enforced disappearance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>People look for their families for their whole lives. They themselves go missing in the search. This horrific violation happens alongside abuses of torture, coerced confessions, sexual assault and murder; and exacts untold torment upon its victims and survivors.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is Enforced Disappearance?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>Enforced disappearance is the abduction of a person with the acquiescence of the Government followed by refusal to disclose the person\u2019s fate or whereabouts<\/em>\u201d (United Nations, 1993). International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on 30 August is a day of awareness and commemoration held annually by the United Nations.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What this can look like is the arrest of an individual by state actors, without a warrant, without rights, charges or an explanation given. There is a refusal to provide any information whatsoever. The person is taken by said actors and never seen again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enforced\ndisappearance is used as a <strong>tool of systemic oppression<\/strong> of communities\nconsidered as politically dissident. A knock-on effect ripples across relatives\nsince enforced disappearance is frequently enacted as reprisal upon the loved\nones of the targeted individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Where does Enforced Disappearance Take Place?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Enforced disappearance happens <strong>all over the world<\/strong>. It takes place on every continent with Latin American states such as El Salvador, Argentina and Peru being particularly affected, alongside other <strong>countries that have experienced conflict or social upheaval<\/strong> such as Syria, Iraq, Kosovo, Western Sahara, Pakistan and Egypt, among many more. In 2014 the United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearance had 24, 250 reported unresolved cases across 88 states (United Nations, 2014). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another example is Colombia, where\nthere are 150,000 registered forced disappearances between 1986 and 2017. A\nfurther study has demonstrated that as many as 80,000 people (almost 50% of\nthose disappeared) are still missing today in Colombia, and are feared murdered\nduring the armed conflict. The true figure, however, will never be known. Often\nit is unclear who disappeared these victims and why (Colombia Reports, 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Word of International Law<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>International\nlaw\u2019s cornerstone mechanism on enforced disappearance is the International\nConvention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which\nstipulates the irrevocable and extensive illegality of enforced disappearance\nwithout exception (United Nations, 2019). Unfortunately, however, only 59\nstates have to date ratified this convention (UN Treaties, 2019). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other legal mechanisms include those such as the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Statue, like the Convention, declares that enforced disappearance is a <strong>crime against humanity.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the things that make enforced disappearance so dangerous is that it takes its <strong>victim outside of all rule of law<\/strong> and legal mechanisms, thus depriving them of their rights and existence as a subject under the law. State sanctioned unlawful vanishment leaves individuals no recourse to justice and no access to protection, redress or reparation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enforced\ndisappearance tends to violate economic, social and cultural rights as well as\nbeing in contravention of numerous human rights enshrined at the heart of\ncustomary international and national law and treaties. These include the right\nto recognition as a person; the right to liberty and security; the right not to\nbe subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or\npunishment; the right to life, the right to an identity; the right to a fair\ntrial and to judicial guarantees. It constitutes a crime against humanity\n(United Nations, 2019). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Consequences in Families, Communities and Hearts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nforced disappearance of a child or their parent is a serious violation of the\nrights of the child enshrined in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/convention\/adapted-for-children\/\">Convention of the Rights of the Child<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those who are themselves victim to enforced disappearance suffer from being in constant fear for their lives. They are often tortured and killed. On the rare occasion a victim is released from capture, long-term psychological and physical consequences of the dehumanising brutalisation which they endured often remain.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"671\" src=\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_554636533-1024x671.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28882\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_554636533-1024x671.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_554636533-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_554636533-768x503.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_554636533-830x544.jpg 830w, https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_554636533-230x151.jpg 230w, https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_554636533-350x229.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_554636533-480x314.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Members of Civil Society protest against forced disappearance of social activists, on January 12, 2017 in Karachi, Pakistan<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Countless\nlifetimes are spent without receiving answers as to the fate of disappeared\nloved ones. \u2018Closure\u2019 can be incredibly complicated or impossible to obtain.\nSome psychologists recommend families conduct burials of objects that were\nmeaningful to the disappeared loved one, in order to allow them to begin a\ngrieving process (Mart\u00edn Beristain, 2010). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Families\nand friends are made to suffer indefinite mental anguish, often passing their\nlives never knowing the fate of their loved one, whether they are alive or\ndead, what condition they are in, what treatment they are subjected to, or\nwhere they are. Alongside this torment, <strong>family members are often aware of\nbeing at high risk of disappearance themselves<\/strong>. Searching for the truth is\nlikely to endanger them even further as they may become subject to reprisals\nand be disappeared as well, creating a heartbreaking circle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore,\nthe disappeared person is often the main breadwinner of their family unit,\nmeaning that the material and economic impacts of their absence are\nconsiderable. Women tend to be the ones most affected by the <strong>economic\nhardship created by enforced disappearance<\/strong> and are at \u2018the forefront of the\nstruggle to resolve the disappearance of family members\u2019 (United Nations,\n2019). The search for loved one itself incurs significant costs and the lack of\na death certificate or any concrete proof or conclusion as to the fate of their\nfamily member makes it extremely difficult to access state support,\ncompensation and services including pensions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taking the decision to declare a family member dead, even after many years (whether it be an economic necessity or not) is something immensely painful. The relative can feel as if they themselves are the one to \u2018kill [their] loved one in [their] mind\u2019 (Mart\u00edn Beristain, 2010). Some countries such as Argentina and Chile issue <strong>certificates for those enforceably disappeared<\/strong> which enable claiming of compensation; but even these can be complicated, slow and costly to obtain  and can require a prerequisite death certificate (UN Commission on Human Rights, 1998).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Communities are fractioned and severely impacted by the practice of enforced disappearance which is often weaponized against large groups of people as a mechanism for spreading terror. The feeling of insecurity, fear and instability dissipates throughout communities and surrounding societies as a monumental disruption and dissemination of terror. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Humanium Condemns Enforced Disappearance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/presentation\/\">Humanium<\/a> we abhor enforced disappearance and\neverything it brings about. By working alongside local partners such as \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hihindia.org\">Hand in Hand\nIndia\u2019<\/a> and \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.avsi.org\/en\/\">Avsi<\/a>\u2019\nin Rwanda we hope to contribute to the protection of children affected by the\ngreatest vulnerability from such violation of their rights.&nbsp; With the 30th anniversary of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/convention\/text\/\">Convention\nof the Child\u2019s Rights<\/a> impending, at Humanium we renew our\ncommitment to the promotion of children\u2019s rights, whilst taking the opportunity\nto highlight phenomenons such as enforced disappearance that demonstrate the\nimportance of such work. At the same time, we recognise how very <strong>very far\nthere still is to go<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you know of a child or young person affected by enforced disappearance, or whose rights have been violated, do not hesitate to contact the Humanium helpline, where we do our utmost to give tailored guidance and advice. Humanium\u2019s close partner, Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l\u2019Homme (AADH), works with us on helpline cases of child rights alongside other determined lawyers throughout the world with whom Humanium is connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Written by Josie Thum<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bibliography<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Amnesty International, \u2018Enforced\nDisappearance\u2019 (2019), available at: https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/what-we-do\/disappearances\/, Retrieved 07 August 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Carlos Mart\u00edn Beristain, <em>Manual sobre perspectiva\npsicosocial en la investigaci\u00f3n de derechos humanos (Bilbao: Universidad de Pa\u00ed<\/em><em>s Vasco, 2010). <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Colombia\nReports, \u2018Forced Disappearances\u2019 (2019), available at: <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/colombiareports.com\/forced-disappearances-statistics\/\"><em>https:\/\/colombiareports.com\/forced-disappearances-statistics\/<\/em><\/a><em>, Retrieved 06 August 2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Human Rights Watch, \u2018Families Beg\nfor Answers on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances\u2019\n(2018), available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2018\/08\/27\/families-beg-answers-international-day-victims-enforced-disappearances\">https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2018\/08\/27\/families-beg-answers-international-day-victims-enforced-disappearances<\/a>, Retrieved 07 August 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Forbes, \u2018The International Day of\nthe Victims of Enforced Disappearances\u2019 (2018), available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/ewelinaochab\/2018\/08\/29\/the-international-day-of-the-victims-of-enforced-disappearances\/#4be267b0b42e\">https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/ewelinaochab\/2018\/08\/29\/the-international-day-of-the-victims-of-enforced-disappearances\/#4be267b0b42e<\/a>, Retrieved 08 August 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>OHCRH, \u2018International Convention\nfor the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance\u2019 (2006),\navailable at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/HRBodies\/CED\/Pages\/ConventionCED.aspx\">https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/HRBodies\/CED\/Pages\/ConventionCED.aspx<\/a>, Retrieved 08 August 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>OCHCRH, \u2018Working Group on Enforced\nor Involuntary Disappearances\u2019 (2019), available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/issues\/disappearances\/pages\/disappearancesindex.aspx\">https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/issues\/disappearances\/pages\/disappearancesindex.aspx<\/a>, Retrieved 07 August 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>OCHRH, \u2018Enforced or Involuntary\nDisappearances\u2019 (2009), available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/Documents\/Publications\/FactSheet6Rev3.pdf\">https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/Documents\/Publications\/FactSheet6Rev3.pdf<\/a>, Retrieved 07 August 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Priya Pillali, \u2018Enforced Disappearances:\nA Global Scourge, Increasingly Under the Radar\u2019 (2019), available at: <a href=\"http:\/\/opiniojuris.org\/2019\/05\/31\/enforced-disappearances-a-global-scourge-increasingly-under-the-radar\/\">http:\/\/opiniojuris.org\/2019\/05\/31\/enforced-disappearances-a-global-scourge-increasingly-under-the-radar\/<\/a>, Retrieved 08 August 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>UN Committee on Human Rights, \u2018Report\nof the Working Group on Enforced or Voluntary Disappearances\u2019 (1998), available\nat: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.refworld.org\/docid\/3b00f53bc.html\">https:\/\/www.refworld.org\/docid\/3b00f53bc.html<\/a>, Retrieved 06 August 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>United Nations, \u2018International Day\nof the Victims of Enforced Disappearances 30 August\u2019 (2019), available at: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/events\/disappearancesday\/index.shtml\">https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/events\/disappearancesday\/index.shtml<\/a>, Retrieved 06 August 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People look for their families for their whole lives. They themselves go missing in the search. This horrific violation happens alongside abuses of torture, coerced confessions, sexual assault and murder; and exacts untold torment upon its victims and survivors. What is Enforced Disappearance? \u201cEnforced disappearance is the abduction of a person with the acquiescence of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28881,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[152,11,144],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-childrens-rights","category-human-rights-programmes","category-violence"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Searching for answers: The immense human rights work still to be done in face of enforced disappearance - Humanium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"People look for their families for their whole lives. They themselves go missing in the search. This horrific violation happens alongside abuses of torture, coerced confessions, sexual assault and murder; and exacts untold torment upon its victims and survivors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Searching for answers: The immense human rights work still to be done in face of enforced disappearance - Humanium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"People look for their families for their whole lives. They themselves go missing in the search. This horrific violation happens alongside abuses of torture, coerced confessions, sexual assault and murder; and exacts untold torment upon its victims and survivors.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Humanium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-29T19:50:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-13T20:44:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1162461397.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2262\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Olivier\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Olivier\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/\",\"name\":\"Searching for answers: The immense human rights work still to be done in face of enforced disappearance - Humanium\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1162461397.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-29T19:50:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-13T20:44:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1eff9e75308caf4fb911ea040d1edf09\"},\"description\":\"People look for their families for their whole lives. They themselves go missing in the search. This horrific violation happens alongside abuses of torture, coerced confessions, sexual assault and murder; and exacts untold torment upon its victims and survivors.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1162461397.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1162461397.jpg\",\"width\":3000,\"height\":2262},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Searching for answers: The immense human rights work still to be done in face of enforced disappearance\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Humanium\",\"description\":\"Children first!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1eff9e75308caf4fb911ea040d1edf09\",\"name\":\"Olivier\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/945a9bb4662b83cabc6e1483b64823d58adf8c47dcbb3a834cd5df54a5f60495?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/945a9bb4662b83cabc6e1483b64823d58adf8c47dcbb3a834cd5df54a5f60495?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Olivier\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/author\/olivier\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Searching for answers: The immense human rights work still to be done in face of enforced disappearance - Humanium","description":"People look for their families for their whole lives. They themselves go missing in the search. This horrific violation happens alongside abuses of torture, coerced confessions, sexual assault and murder; and exacts untold torment upon its victims and survivors.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Searching for answers: The immense human rights work still to be done in face of enforced disappearance - Humanium","og_description":"People look for their families for their whole lives. They themselves go missing in the search. This horrific violation happens alongside abuses of torture, coerced confessions, sexual assault and murder; and exacts untold torment upon its victims and survivors.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/","og_site_name":"Humanium","article_published_time":"2019-08-29T19:50:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-13T20:44:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3000,"height":2262,"url":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1162461397.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Olivier","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Olivier","Estimated reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/","url":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/","name":"Searching for answers: The immense human rights work still to be done in face of enforced disappearance - Humanium","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1162461397.jpg","datePublished":"2019-08-29T19:50:22+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-13T20:44:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1eff9e75308caf4fb911ea040d1edf09"},"description":"People look for their families for their whole lives. They themselves go missing in the search. This horrific violation happens alongside abuses of torture, coerced confessions, sexual assault and murder; and exacts untold torment upon its victims and survivors.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1162461397.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1162461397.jpg","width":3000,"height":2262},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/searching-for-answers-the-immense-human-rights-work-still-to-be-done-in-face-of-enforced-disappearance\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Searching for answers: The immense human rights work still to be done in face of enforced disappearance"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/","name":"Humanium","description":"Children first!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1eff9e75308caf4fb911ea040d1edf09","name":"Olivier","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/945a9bb4662b83cabc6e1483b64823d58adf8c47dcbb3a834cd5df54a5f60495?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/945a9bb4662b83cabc6e1483b64823d58adf8c47dcbb3a834cd5df54a5f60495?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Olivier"},"url":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/author\/olivier\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28880"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88183,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28880\/revisions\/88183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humanium.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}