Paris, Geneva, 20 January 2025. The first WCED took place in Geneva on 15-16 January, marking a historic milestone in the global fight against enforced disappearances. Enforced disappearances occur when an individual is arrested, detained, or abducted by state agents or with their authorisation. This is then followed by a deliberate denial and concealment of the individual’s fate and whereabouts. When committed in a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, enforced disappearances also constitute a crime against humanity.
Despite the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in 2006, only 77 states have ratified the Convention to date and enforced disappearances remain a critical global challenge. With hundreds of representatives of victims and civil society from all over the world in attendance - including FIDH members from Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa - the WCED was a striking reminder of the global reach of this abhorrent practice. The event constitutes a significant step forward in raising global awareness and strengthening international cooperation.
At the opening ceremony, Alice Mogwe, FIDH President, underscored the importance of the WCED in advancing efforts to eradicate enforced disappearances. She emphasised that "it is a critical moment for us to not only push for universal ratification and implementation of the Convention but to ensure its rigorous application through robust legal and institutional frameworks at the domestic level." She also reaffirmed FIDH’s long-standing commitment to supporting victims and survivors, stating: "At FIDH, we place the rights of victims and survivors at the heart of our work."
FIDH and its members, alongside the WCED partners, played a prominent role in discussions on criminalising enforced disappearances, securing justice for victims, and protecting lawyers and other human rights defenders. Key points of discussion included strengthening search processes, enhancing legal frameworks to combat impunity and ensure greater protections for searchers and advocates, and empowering victims and their families. The WCED also emphasised the importance of awareness-raising, training, and memorialisation to prevent recurrence, as well as the need for reparations for the victims. Additionally, the WCED called for strengthened international cooperation and the establishment of regional platforms for collective action against enforced disappearances.
Through active participation in the discussions, FIDH urged states to ratify the Convention and called for accountability, truth, justice and reparations for victims.
During the session entitled "The Fight Against Impunity: Ensuring International Accountability for Perpetrators of Enforced Disappearance", Ilya Nuzov, Head of the International Justice Desk at FIDH, outlined key challenges in prosecuting enforced disappearances under the principle of universal jurisdiction, citing a 2023 case in Switzerland, litigated by FIDH and partners, involving enforced disappearances in Belarus in 1999. These challenges include the limited capacity of national authorities and inadequate domestic legal frameworks, which often fail to comply with international standards defining the elements of the crime of enforced disappearance. Additionally, there are significant difficulties in accessing evidence and witnesses.
In the session "Legal tools against impunity: understanding and exercising universal jurisdiction", Clémence Bectarte, lawyer and coordinator of FIDH’s Litigation Action Group, discussed the slow progress in prosecutions relating to enforced disappearance in France, despite the incorporation of the crime in its domestic law in 2013. She pointed to the Dabbagh case (2024), the first and only trial in France concerning enforced disappearances as a crime against humanity. Obeida Dabbagh, a civil party in the case, shared his emotional journey of seeking justice for his brother and nephew, who were forcibly disappeared in Syria in 2013. Mazen Darwish, General Director of FIDH member organisation the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression(SCM), emphasised the widespread impact of enforced disappearances on Syrian families, noting that the regime has used this tactic to terrorise its population.
The session "The Protection of Victims, Defenders, and Professionals Working on Enforced Disappearances " was co-sponsored by FIDH, GIAI, and Reporters Without Borders, and moderated by Jimena Reyes, FIDH Director for the Americas. Violetta Fitsner from FIDH member organisation Memorial discussed the perilous work of human rights defenders in Russia tracking the disappeared from Chechnya and Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine. In Russia, defenders face grave risks as they advocate for victims of enforced disappearances amid increasing state repression.
The WCED closed with the presentation of six key follow-up actions related to the proposal for an Action Plan for the protection of all persons from enforced disappearances.
1.Support the creation of a regional victim-led network in Sub-Saharan Africa.
2. Organisation of annual meetings of women searchers.
3. Monitoring of sessions of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
4. Promotion of the International Convention Ratification Campaign.
5. Strengthening the capacity of civil society organisations to engage with UN mechanisms.
6. Building an international youth network against enforced disappearances.
This first WCED represents a critical step in advancing the global fight against enforced disappearances but a lot remains to be done. FIDH remains committed to working with its partners to ensure that the rights of victims are upheld, perpetrators are held accountable, and lasting solutions are found to prevent this grave human rights violation.