Syria: enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests

Al Jazeera carries an interview with Hala Al Ghawi, a co-founder of the Families for Freedom organization, who speaks about enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests in Syria, among other things urging countries meeting at the 74th session of the UN General Assembly to address this issue. https://bit.ly/2lWrZpo

Colombia: ex-combatants acknowledge role in disappearances

In video testimony published by Colombia’s Truth Commission on Thursday, former army officer Gustavo Enrique Soto Bracamonte, former paramilitary commander José Éver Veloza (known as ‘HH’), and former FARC commander José Benito Ramírez, each acknowledged responsibility for enforced disappearances during the conflict. This is seen as a significant step in the transitional justice process in Colombia, as all three actors involved in the conflict assumed responsibility (Video in Spanish).  http://bit.ly/2n8bOFz http://bit.ly/2l4uaGT

 Libya: human rights violations

The Voice of America reports on UN concerns over continuing widespread human rights violations in Libya….

Burundi: forced disappearances

Mass atrocities and crimes against humanity continue in Burundi, according to a newly-published report by the UN Commission of Inquiry. The Commission cited “summary executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, sexual violence, and forced disappearances.” https://bit.ly/2mwadcD

Yemen: hundreds missing after siege

Hundreds of families in Yemen are seeking information on the fate of relatives believed to have been either captured or killed by Houthi rebels in the Wadi Abu Jabara area in Saada province, Middle East Eye reports. “We heard a lot of rumors about our sons over the past two weeks, but it seems that no one knows the truth but God,” a mother said. https://bit.ly/2l49pLE

Thailand offers free DNA tests to identify deceased migrants

The authorities in Thailand have announced that DNA tests will be offered to migrant families who believe a relative has died in Thailand. The…

Spain: Supreme Court rules on exhumation

The BBC reports on the ruling by Spain’s Supreme Court that the remains of former dictator Francisco Franco should be exhumed, finding for the government, which wants to move the remains from a state mausoleum to a less controversial site – a cemetery where Franco’s wife is buried. The ruling is significant in a society still coming to terms with the legacy of the Civil War (1936-39) and its aftermath, which left 100,000 people missing. https://bbc.in/2mhLqc2

Rally of parents of the missing Ayotzinapa students

La Prensa Latina, a news portal based in the US, reports on a rally in Iguala attended by parents of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa who disappeared five years ago this week. The families of the missing students are demanding a new investigation into the crime and a review of the conduct of officials who have so far been involved…

Egypt: hundreds of arrests

The Guardian reports that hundreds of Egyptian civilians have been arrested since Friday, when anti-regime protests spread across the country. Detainees have been questioned by police and officials from the national security agency. Human Rights Watch has accused both of “systematic, widespread enforced disappearances and torture” in the past. https://bit.ly/2m8f6bj

El Salvador: more than 2,300 reported missing in 2019

El Salvador’s Attorney General has announced that more than 2,300 persons have been reported missing in the country in 2019, La Prensa Grafica reports. The paper quotes a forensic expert who notes that if a person has been missing for more than eight days “there is a high possibility they were murdered and buried in a clandestine grave” (original article in Spanish). https://bit.ly/2msqwa9

Bahamas: More than 1,300 missing

More than 1,300 persons are missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, which swept the Bahamas more than two weeks…

UN report: “disproportionate number of enforced disappearances”

A new UN report, covering 1 June 2018 to 31 May of this year, documents human rights violations in nearly 50 countries, including detention and imprisonment of activists. Commenting on the report, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour highlighted “a disproportionate number of cases of enforced disappearance or detention” of activists, often on grounds of national security. https://bit.ly/2mlMXh7

Missing Palestinians “held secretly in Syrian prisons”

The issue of enforced disappearances of Palestinian refugees in contested territories in Syria has been raised with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva by human rights defenders, according to the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria (AGPS). Delegates from the AGPS reported that 1,800 Palestinian refugees are being held secretly in Syrian prisons.  https://bit.ly/2kvTIfY

Mexico: “authorities addressing response to the missing persons issue”

The authorities in Mexico intend to take prompt action to address the official…

Mexico: relaunch of Ayotzinapa investigation

Mexico will open a new investigation into the September 2014 disappearance and apparent massacre of 43 student teachers from Ayotzinapa, authorities said on Wednesday. Reuters reports that President Lopez Obrador told relatives of the victims in a private meeting earlier this week that he is working on preventing the release of suspects in the case. So far 77 of 142 suspects detained have been released by courts. Investigators have only definitively identified the remains of one of the 43 missing students. https://reut.rs/2m2oGwm

Liberia: war crimes court

Liberian President George Weah has endorsed the establishment of a war crimes court, All Africa reports. In a letter to the Liberian legislature, the President has called for implementation of recommendations published by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), including the setting up of an Extraordinary Criminal Court for Liberia to try crimes related to the conflicts of 1989-96 and…

ICMP promotes cooperation among family networks in Croatia

ICMP organized a meeting with 30 representatives of missing persons family associations from Croatia in Zagreb on Tuesday with the participation of representatives of the Croatian Veterans Ministry’s Directorate for Detained and Missing Defenders, Total Croatia News reports. This was the second in a series of meetings organized in the Western Balkans as part of a two-year project supported by the UK government and being implemented by ICMP to renew the effort to account for 12,000 people who are still missing throughout the region. https://bit.ly/2lWgIoC

UN Human Rights Council addresses enforced disappearances in Syria

The OHCHR reports that at the 42nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, has highlighted “the plight of the unlawfully detained, missing and forcibly disappeared” in Syria, noting that…