Mexico: families support effort to account for the missing

The Medium news portal reports on the activities of the VIDA group of families of missing persons in the city of Torreon in the northern state of Coahuila, Mexico, and their efforts to visit the prosecutor’s office in order to check on the status of investigations, and support field searches for missing relatives. http://bit.ly/2kbI9dI

Kosovo Serb Remains Handed to Serbian Representatives

The remains of two Kosovo Serbs who went missing in 1999 – and were exhumed near Djakovica in western Kosovo in 2018 – have been handed over to a Serbian government commission after identification via DNA analysis, Balkan Insight reports. http://bit.ly/2kc2b7W

Thailand: call for investigation into enforced disappearance

Human Rights Watch has called on the authorities in Thailand urgently to investigate the apparent enforced disappearance of Od Sayavong, a refugee from Laos and a prominent critic of the Lao government. He was…

Missing persons in Syria

The Associated Press reports on the issue of missing persons as a result of the conflict in Syria. It says more than 100,000 people have been detained, abducted or gone missing since 2011, while the authorities have only been able to help identify 1,670 sets of human remains according to Syria’s General Commission of Forensic Medicine. The article quotes UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen: “All Syrians, no matter their affiliations, are touched by this issue.” http://bit.ly/2lYr4Es

Bosnia and Herzegovina: human remains exhumed

N1 reports that a set of human remains has been found in the village of Josanica near Zvornik in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), according to the BIH Prosecutor’s Office. Exhumation was coordinated by the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutor’s Office, and representatives of the BIH Missing Persons Institute and the International Commission on Missing Persons were present at the exhumation site…

Mass graves in Raqqa, Syria

Since the beginning of 2018, more than 5,000 sets of human remains have been uncovered in and around the city of Raqqa in northern Syria, the Voice of America reports. The victims are believed to have been buried in mass graves by Da’esh militants. The article notes that “without the resources for DNA or forensic testing, most remains have not yet been identified.” http://bit.ly/2kwhSH9

Almost 100,000 Syrians have disappeared

More than 98,000 Syrians have disappeared since the start of an anti-government uprising in the country in 2011, with the vast majority detained by the regime, The New Arab says in an article that reports the latest findings by the Syrian Network for Human Rights. http://bit.ly/2m1iNzK

Iraq: families of the missing seek the truth

The Daily Times from Pakistan reports from different parts of Iraq on the experience of family members who are living with the…

Thailand: disappeared activist’s remains found

Human Rights Watch has called on the authorities in Thailand to undertake an immediate and credible investigation into the abduction and murder of a prominent ethnic Karen activist who was forcibly disappeared more than five years ago. On 3 September, the Justice Ministry’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) announced that the remains of Porlajee Rakchongcharoen, also known as Billy, were found in Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi province, where he was last seen in custody of government park officials in April 2014. http://bit.ly/2jZ6FhY

Myanmar: incommunicado detentions and deaths

Three independent UN rights experts have called for “credible, independent” investigations into allegations of torture and ill-treatment leading to the death of ethnic Rakhine men and boys being held in incommunicado detention by Myanmar’s military, UN News reports. http://bit.ly/2lB2dGQ

Iraqi National Team strategy

The Iraqi National Team responsible for addressing the issue of mass graves in the country…

Mexico: Enforced Disappearances

At least 40,000 people have disappeared in Mexico since 2006, and officials believe that the majority were victims of organized-crime groups, the National Post reports. Nearly 5,000 bodies have been discovered in more than 3,000 graves. Mexican authorities announced on Friday that they were planning to invite a UN commission that investigates disappearances to visit the country, after years of preventing them from doing so. http://bit.ly/2lS8TQM

Sudan: Prosecuting Former President Omar al-Bashir

The appearance of ousted Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir in court for the first time has encouraged the International Criminal Court (ICC), as well as many Sudanese, to bring their own cases against the former leader, reports Middle East Eye. Sudan’s former president was formally charged on Saturday with illicit possession of foreign currency and corruption, after being charged in May with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters during the demonstrations that led to his…

ICMP urges continued search for missing in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) marked International Day of the Disappeared with an installation consisting of hundreds of pairs of shoes in front of the Parliament, highlighting the need to continue searching for those who are still missing from the conflict of the 1990s, Xinhua reports. http://bit.ly/2kcZp2k

Iraq: accounting for the missing

In a video marking International Day of the Disappeared, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) highlighted the issue of missing persons in Iraq, where the number of missing persons ranges from 250,000 to one million, Aljazeera reports. http://bit.ly/2lpFL30

Nigeria: calls for missing persons database

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission, Tony Ojukwu, has called for the establishment of a missing persons database in Nigeria, Punch reports. It says such a database should help to establish and update…

ICMP on International Day of the Disappeared

FENA and other multiple outlets in Bosnia and Herzegovina reported on an article published by ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger today, highlighting the fact that, as countries struggle to address the issue of large numbers of missing persons, “an international legal framework has been set in place that lays out the obligations of governments to take effective action.” https://bit.ly/2zxQg8A

UN: Enforced disappearance cases continue

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has issued a statement to mark International Day of the Disappeared, noting that “enforced disappearance can be misperceived as an issue of the past, but many cases remain unresolved and new ones continue to arise. He says successful prosecutions “have contributed to uncovering the truth, delivering justice and deterring repetition” and he calls on countries to sign, ratify or accede to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. https://bit.ly/2LbnQYB

Enforced disappearance in…