Enforced or involuntary disappearances have been a persisting global phenomenon and
although the international community has put a lot of effort into their regulation, it has not
always been successful. Problems have arisen mainly in the search for a comprehensive
definition, as the term “enforced disappearances” stands for a long-lasting offence that includes
violations of several human rights and has evolved differently in several areas of international
law. It is now regulated by customary international humanitarian law which includes a
prohibition of enforced disappearances, by international criminal law as it constitutes a crime
against humanity and by international human rights law. Until the adoption of the first legally
binding instrument, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance, human rights law did not include per se such a prohibition. The
Convention is the first act that presented a comprehensive and uniform set of measures
regulating enforced disappearances and set out the requirements for criminalisation of the
named act. However, the Convention has been ratified by only a few states which undermines
its authority. Beside the extensive corpus of legalisation that prohibits enforced disappearances
the most recent state practice shows a non-compliance with the said rules, as even the most
democratic states namely the USA have been resorting to enforced disappearances. The USA
have been violating the rules prohibiting disappearances with the practice of incommunicado
detentions and extraordinary renditions in the context of war on terror. It is now the
responsibility of the international community to take appropriate measures in order to secure
the respect of the fundamental principles of human rights protection and therefore protect as
many human lives as possible.
|
