Stand up for the victims of enforced disappearance: Time to ratify the Convention

Stand up for the victims of enforced disappearance: Time to ratify the Convention

Over a decade ago, on 23 December 2010, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons against Enforced Disappearance entered into force. Today, much has been achieved, but far more remains to be done to eradicate and prevent enforced disappearances around the world. To date, only 63 out of the 193 Member States of the United Nations have ratified the Convention.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Convention’s entry into force, in December 2020, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances and its Secretariat reiterated their full commitment to support victims, States, civil society organizations, National Human Rights Institutions and all actors involved in the fight against enforced disappearances, and sent a new call for all States to ratify the Convention and fully recognize the competence of the Committee.

Support the campaign

Here’s how you can help:

• Follow us on Twitter:Learn about our work through the Human Rights Treaty Bodies Twitter account (@UNTreatyBodies) and check out the hashtags: #EnforcedDisappearances and #CED10
• Visit the Stand up 4 Human Rights site and take the pledge to stand up for the disappeared by being a Human Rights Champion.
• Share this video calling for States to ratify the Convention: Watch and share this video featuring members of the Committee and its Secretariat calling for action to ratify the Convention.
• Read the story of Isatou Jammeh, whose father and aunt disappeared when she was 14 years old: For the last decade, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances has worked to help people like Jammeh by carrying out sustained dialogues with governments, families and others to highlight and sometimes find the missing. Read the story on OHCHR.org or on Medium.com
• Ready the story of Reyna Patricia Ambros Zapatero who survive Enforced Disappearance (May 2018) on OHCHR.org
• Learn about our ‘urgent action’ requests to States to locate disappeared persons: An urgent action is a request from the Committee to a State party to immediately take all necessary measures to search and locate a disappeared person. On 22 December 2020, the Committee registered its 1,000th urgent request to locate victims of enforced disappearance.
• Read and share the story of Maria Nohemí Barbosa González: on 4 May 2020, it had been 5 years, 10 months and 26 days since she last saw her son, John Alexander. Through her testimony, she explained how the Committee has supported her through its Urgent Action procedure.
• Learn about the Convention and the importance that States ratify it in: Disparitions forcées : il y a dix ans, la Convention suspendait le temps (‘Enforced Disappearances : ten years ago, the Convention froze time’, in French only)
• Listen to one of the experts of the Committee and the Committee’s Secretary talk about the work of CED, its successes and challenges, and the importance for all States to ratify the Convention, in a radio podcast released on the 10th anniversary of the Convention on PODBEAN and SPOTIFY

Enforced Disappearances: hear the victims
Please use this video released by the CED and the WGEID on 30 August 2022, International Day for the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, to give the voice to victims and call for the urgent ratification of the Convention by all States.
Also available in Français and Español