Statement to the Security Council by the High Commissioner on Human Rights on Missing Persons

Security Council open Arria fomula meeting

“The Global Challenge of Accounting for Missing Persons from Conflict, Human Rights Abuses, Disasters, Organized Crime, Migration and other Involuntary Causes”

Thank you Ambassador Rycroft,

I would like also to acknowledge and welcome Ambassador Thomas Miller, Sister Consuelo Morales, Vittorio Piscitelli, and David Tolbert.

Ambassador Rycroft, I commend you and the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom for organising this Arria formula meeting on missing persons, which include victims of enforced disappearance. This phenomenon, when it occurs and is not blunted, fuels and deepens both the suffering of their loved ones as well as conflict themselves, both latent and real.

In Syria – the worst humanitarian emergency of modern times – mass arrests by Government forces have led to the disappearance of over 65,000 people since 2011, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights. More than 58,000 are civilians. Many may be detained in secret torture centres and to a lesser extent than Government forces, several armed opposition groups have also abducted civilians. Their families remain suspended in pain, ignorant of whether their relatives are even alive.

It may well be asked by members of the Council, how do missing persons, and the sub category of the disappeared, link up with threats to international peace and security? That enforced disappearances may be a frightful crime is undeniable. But what is its relevance, some may pose, to the work of the Security Council?

In Iraq, the so-called ISIL group has abducted and enslaved large numbers of women, and rnotably Yazidi women, often trafficking them for sale in both Iraq and Syria. My Office estimates that at least 3,500 women and girls are currently captive slaves, unable to communicate with their families. ISIL has also abducted hundreds of boys for training as combatants.

It has seized thousands of people, including suspected opponents, those suspected of preparing to flee, and people with personal links to key leaders, who are used as hostages for political pressure. These people may be dead; in captivity inside Iraq; or they may have been transported to Syria. Their relatives, too, must live with the nightmare of prolonged or perpetual unknowing.

In Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, Boko Haram has abducted thousands of people, fueling an extremely dangerous regional crisis. The phenomenon can, therefore, often be transboundary or transnational; clearly international. The abductions of nationals, foreign or otherwise, in countries large and small, in all parts of the world where they exist, must be condemned.

In Burundi, my Office reports growing numbers of alleged enforced disappearances by security forces and militia associated with the Government. These actions spread fear, and generate profound and enduring pain to their families and throughout communities and if left to fester, can damage the cause of peace for generations. These are just a few of the crises in which disappearances may have massive impact on regional security.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Commission on Missing Persons have shown great leadership on this issue, and I take this opportunity to commend their work.

My Office supports mechanisms to assist victims in their search for answers, as in Colombia; it acts as a neutral body that can facilitate the exchange of information and build confidence, as in Ukraine; and it advocates for a victim-centred approach to the issue of missing and disappeared persons, as in Sri Lanka.

We also support the Committee on Enforced Disappearances and the Working Group on Involuntary or Enforced Disappearances, which currently seeks information about over 40.000 outstanding cases in a total of 88 States.

Ambassador Rycroft,

I would like to make four further points from a human rights perspective.

First, prevention must be more vigorously pursued, including through appropriate legislation and adequate institutional frameworks. I urge States to ratify and fully implement the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which addresses specific and most disturbing crimes involving the responsibility of State authorities. Prevention also requires greater investments in early warning, as is central to Human Rights Up Front. It should focus on risk factors and causes of human rights violations, and nurture a culture of human rights compliance.

Second, the question of the missing must be depoliticized. Including when conflicts are ongoing, there should be clear commitment shown at the highest levels of all parties to fully cooperate towards solving these cases. Mechanisms to clarify the fate of missing persons need to be transparent, impartial and effective. They should include representatives of civil society and families of the missing.

Third, the needs of missing persons and their families should always be at the centre of any action, with particular attention to those who are most vulnerable. The problem of missing persons has particular and differentiated consequences on women and children, who are often displaced and face heightened risks of gender-based or sexual violence. Women and children are often also survivors of conflicts in which they have lost their male family members and economic lifelines. Governments must identify and respond to these difficulties.

Finally, accountability is vital, both as a measure of redress for victims, and as a powerful message of prevention. Enforced disappearances are crimes under international law, and many cases of missing persons may also involve criminal accountability.

It is critical that we honour the victims’ rights to justice and effective remedy and I trust that David Tolbert will develop this point in greater detail in his presentation.

Ambassador Rycroft,

Victims have the right to the truth. We cannot be complacent in our resolve to determine what has happened to them. No circumstances – whether armed conflict, political instability, public emergency, or migration – can justify enforced disappearances. And uncovering the truths can also be a massive step towards justice, reconciliation and peace.