Forced Disappearance Research Articles

Tactical features of the interrogation of witnesses during the investigation of the forced disappearance of a person

The scientific article is devoted to the development of forensic provisions and practical recommendations aimed at improving the organization and tactics of witness interrogation during the investigation of the enforced disappearance of a person. It is emphasized that the achievement of a positive result in the detection and investigation of crimes provided for in Art. 146-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, depends on the establishment of an effective mechanism of interaction between the investigator and operative units, the organization of an intensive search for the victim, complex and operational application, along with obtaining statements, other investigative (search) actions and covert investigative (search) actions. It was concluded that in criminal proceedings of the specified category, the following must first be established: eyewitnesses to the crime; persons who were seen near the scene of the crime shortly before the crime was committed or in the company of the missing person; acquaintances of the victim and (or) criminal (close relatives and family members, friends, roommates), who are aware of his lifestyle, daily routine, intentions, connections, conflicts and problems; neighbors of the victim; persons who saw the victim shortly before the disappearance and can explain the specific circumstances of his behavior, the possible direction and path of movement, signs of the appearance of those probably involved in the abduction; persons who were present at the transfer of redemption; eyewitnesses who observed the circumstances of the release of the abducted person; employees of law enforcement agencies. The organizational and tactical principles of the interrogation of the relevant category of witnesses at the initial stage of the investigation have been determined.

How Do Perpetrators Become Visible? Photographs and Visibility <em>Dispositifs</em> in the Identification of a Perpetrator During the Argentine Dictatorship

This article examines the connections between forced disappearances in Argentina, the public visibility of perpetrators, and the role of photographic images. It focuses on Alfredo Astiz, who was identified during the dictatorship for his involvement in two internationally renowned abduction cases: the disappearance of the Swedish teenager Dagmar Hagelin and the abduction of the French nuns Alice Domon and Léonie Duquet, who were taken to the Navy Mechanics School or ESMA (Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada). By analysing two series of photographs of Astiz that were published during the dictatorship, along with the accompanying texts and paratexts circulating at the time, and within the contexts, settings, and media that facilitated the identification and visibility of this perpetrator, this article sheds light on the dynamics, limitations, tensions, and opportunities presented by images of the figure of the perpetrator. The article proposes to understand visibility dispositifs as specific tools for investigating the visual representation of perpetrators and the complex processes involved in constructing meanings around perpetration over time. In the more specific field of forced disappearance studies, this text aims to discuss the role of images in making perpetrators visible, thus shifting the research focus away from the photographs of victims, which have been extensively examined in previous work. Its uniqueness also lies in considering this issue within a dictatorial rather than a transitional or post-conflict context.

The Terrorist State and Its Margins: The Repressive Experience of Subordinate Personnel in the Armed and Security Forces in Operation Independence, Tucumán, Argentina, 1975–1977

In this article, I will analyse a seldom-heard voice in the recent history of the Southern Cone: testimonies from soldiers and former gendarmes who witnessed state crimes and, years later, found the courage to share their experiences in court. This is an unusual approach in Argentina to the study of perpetrators, which so far has prioritised public statements, official memories, and the experiences of career personnel in the Armed Forces. Instead, this research aligns with those works that seek to (re)think political disappearance from the margins and focuses on Operation Independence (Operativo Independencia), a military campaign carried out between 1975 and 1977 in the province of Tucumán. During this Operation, an institutional policy of forced disappearance of persons and of clandestine detention centres was put into practice for the first time; after the military government took power on March 24, 1976, it would spread to the rest of the country. I will examine an intermediate category between victims and perpetrators, namely the low-ranking personnel that occupied auxiliary functions, and argue that such stories from the margins of the terrorist State will allow us to access key aspects of the use of violence in that military campaign.

Responsibility for Violation of Rights of Migrants in Libyan Detention Centre

Migrants in Libya are experiencing the worst form of human rights violations, particularly after the fall of the Gaddafi regime. Post-2014 migrants faced a serious threat of human rights violations in detention centres and became the most vulnerable in Libyan society. The migrants experienced various human rights violations such as murder, torture, rape, enforced disappearance, and forced labour that may amount to crimes against humanity in international criminal law. In light of this situation, European policies aim at returning migrants to the European coasts. This has led to the conclusion of bilateral and multilateral migration agreements with the Libyan government and armed non-state actors. These policies have contributed to the vulnerability of migrants and the legitimization of violations by armed non-state actors. This article examines the violations committed against migrants in detention centres in Libya under the national and international legal framework with the aim of revealing the shortcomings and gaps in the Libyan national legal system and identifying the responsibility of the Libyan government, European Union countries and non-state actors for violations committed against immigrants in Libya.

Unveiling Shadows: Jus Cogens Imperative to Criminalize Enforced Disappearances in Pakistan

Abstract The United Nations, aiming to eradicate enforced disappearance, introduced the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPAPED), mandating signatory States to take preventive actions. Enforced disappearance is also deemed a crime against humanity under other international treaties. However, Pakistan has not ratified the ICPAPED, and its national laws lack specific provisions criminalizing enforced disappearance. Additionally, Pakistan is involved in various international treaties that uphold jus cogens, a fundamental principle of international law considered non-derogable. Given this context, the article highlights the misalignment of Pakistan’s national laws with the principles of jus cogens and underscores the urgent need for Pakistan to enact specific legislation that criminalizes enforced disappearances in line with international standards.

The role of women’s political activism against enforced disappearances in Balochistan: a study of the Baluch missing persons

ABSTRACT The article attempts to highlight the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan and in particular the Baloch population. The focus is on blood relatives and specifically mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, and other close female relatives of forcibly disappeared persons. The Baloch women are at the forefront of the struggle against these enforced disappearances. They are experiencing hardships in seeking justice for the victims and continue to search for the whereabouts of their forcibly disappeared loved ones. The politically motivated women activists have initiated a collective struggle for the safe recovery of the disappeared victims. The families created an organization by the name of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) in 2009, which provides the families legal, political, human rights, and emotional support with a strong aspiration to bring justice to the aggrieved families. The data were obtained using an ethnographic method of participant observation, interviews, and conversations with VBMP members, families, and especially female family members of the enforced disappeared victims. The article concluded by saying that, the Baloch women’s activism and resistance have opened a new horizon for the participation of victims’ relatives in a patriarchal society. The Baloch women have strived hard to bring back their loved ones, thus adding a new dimension to the ethnolinguistic politics and recognition in the age of state project of homogenization and suppression.

Témoigner aux procès après une catastrophe sociale : une tentative de restauration des garants métasociaux démocratiques

ContextThis study explores the subjective and group repercussions of forced disappearance in the context of Latin American dictatorships in the 1970s. To comprehend the dynamics of such state violence, the study draws on a psychoanalytic approach of groups and institutions. The political repression during this era leads to a “social catastrophe” (Puget et al., 1989): following the collapse of democratic meta-social guarantors, the socio-political and institutional context becomes unrecognizable. In the aftermath of numerous crimes legitimized by the juntas, relatives of the disappeared have been fighting for decades against the impunity of the culprits, demanding justice be served. ObjectivesThe study aims to explore the various functions associated with testifying in trials for relatives of the disappeared. MethodAs part of a qualitative study, we interviewed twenty-nine relatives of disappeared people living in Switzerland. We analyzed the semi-structured interviews using thematic content analysis. We present some of the results of the cross-sectional analyses, illustrating them with a case study emblematic of the whole. ResultsFor relatives of the disappeared, testifying in a trial seems to be a royal road to actively participate in the restoration of democratic meta-social guarantors. In doing so, these relatives seek support from a collective and particularly from institutions, especially when these institutions regain their protective function against state violence. By testifying, they contribute to revitalizing narcissistic contracts and, more broadly, attempt to humanize not only the disappeared person but also their relatives and the perpetrators. InterpretationMemory work and the struggle for justice appear to be prevalent in the practices undertaken by close relatives of the disappeared, even fifty years later. Some of these relatives feel invested with a mission to memorialize and denounce political crimes in order to place them within history and to combat systematic erasure of crimes. This mission also allows them to symbolize, as far as possible, the catastrophe and their own history. This research is of course limited by the number of participants and the unique research interview. Further studies on the subjective and group repercussions of such state crimes and their transgenerational impact would be relevant to promote clinical listening to the relatives of the disappeared and their descendants.

Some characteristics of the perpetrators and victims of war rape prosecuted before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina

During the international armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995, numerous crimes were committed, among which crimes of rape are at the top of the scale of brutality. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 50,000 women and girls were raped in the aforementioned conflict, of which the largest number of these atrocities were committed by members of the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS (MUP RS) and related paramilitary formations against Bosniak (muslim) women. It is to be assumed that an extremely large number of perpetrators were involved in the commission of the crimes in question, but unfortunately, a relatively modest number of suspects were prosecuted before the competent courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the neighboring Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia. Within the framework of this work, the research focus is on the prosecution of war rapes before the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the beginning of the work of the mentioned court until today (2005-2023). In the indicated period, 70 wartime rape cases involving 109 defendants were processed before this judicial forum. Out of that number, 55 cases were finally concluded, with convictions in 41 cases and acquittals in 14 cases. The subject of the research was some individual characteristics of perpetrators and victims of war rape. The research sample consisted exclusively of cases in which a final conviction was passed (N=41), in which 51 defendants were declared guilty of war rape and 80 victims of this crime were identified. The research established that all the convicts were male. In addition, 72% of those convicted were members of the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), 16% of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (RBiH Army) and 12% of the Croatian Defense Council (HVO). All members of the RBiH Army were convicted of war rape which is legally qualified as a war crime against the civilian population, which is a criminal offense that, according to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CC BiH), does not include the existence of a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population. On the other hand, the largest number of members of the VRS and four members of the HVO who were prosecuted for wartime rape were convicted of having committed that crime as a crime against humanity, which included a campaign of widespread, massive and systematic criminal activity connected with other crimes (murder , torture, imprisonment, deportation of the population, enforced disappearance, etc.). About half of those legally convicted of war rape before the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina were convicted for crimes committed in eastern Bosnia (Foča 24%, Višegrad 16%, Vlasenica 6% and Rogatica 2%). At the same time, approximately 1/3 of wartime rapes (31%) were committed in a camp, 10% in a public place, and the largest number in a private house or apartment (59%). A significant number of those convicted of these crimes had been convicted before (35%) and were married (78%). Ninety-eight percent (98%) of war rape victims were female and 2% were male. The vast majority of victims (87%) were Bosniaks, while 8% were Serbs and 5% were Croats. However, the fact that almost every fifth victim of war rape (21%) was a minor at the time of committing the crime is particularly striking. The research established that most of the rapes of minors during the international armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina were carried out by members of the Serbian (para)military and police forces in Bosnia nad Herzegovina, as well as a few members of the HVO.

FORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN THE CONDITIONS OF ARMED CONFLICT: PECULIARITIES OF COMMISSION AND RESPONSIBILITY

Abstract. The article is concerned on to the study of the peculiarities of the commission of enforced disappearance in Ukraine in the conditions of armed conflict and problematic issues that arise in practice in connection with the need to bring the perpetrators to criminal responsibility for the commission of the specified offense. The prerequisites for the criminalization of enforced disappearance have been considered. The reasons for the prevalence of enforced disappearances in the context of armed conflict have been identified and investigated. Statistical data on the number of enforced disappearances have been analyzed. Attention has been focused on the specifics of the perpetration of enforced disappearances during the war in Ukraine. The method of committing of enforced disappearances in the conditions of an armed conflict has been studied, the data on the categories of persons who become victims of this criminal offense have been analyzed. Possible places of violent disappearances, including during the so-called “filtering” have been considered. Attention has been dedicated to the main element of the objective side of enforced disappearance – the refusal to recognize the fact of deprivation of liberty and to inform about the fate and location of the victim. Certain problems of responsibility for enforced disappearance have been identified, including the causes of impunity for persons who commit enforced disappearances. A conclusion has been made regarding the presence of problematic issues that require legal resolution and the need to form an effective mechanism aimed at bringing to criminal responsibility persons committing crimes of enforced disappearance in order to avoid impunity.

Exposing Covert Border Enforcement: Why Failing to Shift the Burden of Proof in Pushback Cases is Wrong

Abstract The paper analyses how the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or the Court) assesses evidence when states conceal border practices, such as pushbacks, comparing the Court’s approach in those cases to that in enforced disappearance cases. In both types of cases, states deny that the conduct – which would have violated human rights – has taken place and provide neither the applicants nor the Court with evidence. While surface examination of the relevant case law could suggest that the ECtHR shifts the burden of proof in the same way in both sets of cases, I demonstrate that the Court expects applicants in covert border enforcement cases to provide stronger evidence, which is then labelled as prima facie evidence. I argue that the burden of proof should be shifted in the same way in both scenarios, as the position of the victims and the availability of evidence is strikingly similar.

Genealogies of Nothing: Enforced Disappearances, Fable Lives, and Archives in Erasure

This article investigates the political impact of collective story-telling practices in the enforced disappearances from a Foucauldian perspective. I utilize two main theoretical frameworks: on the one hand, that of necropolitics, a kind of power that works on the management of death. On the other hand, that of genealogy as a type of history that mobilizes subjugated knowledges. The first part situates these stories within the framework of genealogy: subjugated knowledges that are buried and disqualified as a part of the work of necropolitics. The second part argues that a Foucauldian genealogical approach to these stories is insufficient: necropolitical archives, when they testify to the work of power, remain incomplete at best and actively erase more often. The third part analyzes these stories as examples of critical fabulation. What is at stake in the insistence of the people searchers to tell their stories, I argue, is the collective emergence of another kind of fable – an act of fabulation in line with what Saidiya Hartman calls “critical fabulation,” which multiplies the possibilities of the present and the past by precisely telling stories of ‘nothing.’

Om å bevitne systematisk vold og straffrihet – Martha Soto Gallos arkiv for sin forsvunne bror og Sara Uribes Antígona González

The article discusses the possibilities for finding words for and conveying trauma within a social and political context where the history of what happened is also at risk of disappearing. By comparing two different accounts of enforced disappearance – the Colombian Martha Soto Gallo’s archive for her missing brother and the Mexican literary text Antígona González (Uribe, 2012/2021) – we explore how the texts describe and move beyond the mechanisms of the modern lie and the tendency of trauma towards silencing. The study’s theoretical base is psychoanalytic trauma theory and testimony theory. We also engage in dialogue with Hanna Arendt’s thinking. The archive shows a repetitive pattern; the tireless search for an answer and the answers that never materialise or that pretend to be answers. We discuss how the figurative language of literature can shed light on the silences in the archive. The article reflects on the relationship between the disappeared and the trauma survivor. In dialogue with Carruth’s (2016) concept of traumatic awakenings, we suggest that the ethical imperative – as a result of witnessing severe traumatic experience – can be an engine for political activism, as it appears here in the survivors’ documentation practices. Keywords: trauma, enforced disappearance, psychoanalysis, testimony, Antígona González

PENGHILANGAN PAKSA SEBAGAI KEJAHATAN TERHADAP KEMANUSIAAN (TELAAH PUTUSAN PRA-PERADILAN III ICC ATAS SITUASI BURUNDI)

Enforced disappearance could be qualified as a crime against humanity. However, international human rights law (IHRL) and international criminal law (ICL), have different definitions of enforced disappearance. It can be reviewed by the different formulations between the ‘ICPPED’ and the Rome Statute of the ‘ICC’. Rome Statute adds several elements to the enforced disappearance definition, such as ‘specific intent’ by the individual perpetrators, ‘temporal element’, and ‘political organization’ as potential actors. And the Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) III Decision on ‘Burundi Situation’ (2017) could be a significant reference. By the doctrinal research through statute and conceptual approach, this article concludes that the PTC III Decision reflects the very close relationship between those two different branches of law, as PTC III still refers to IHRL instruments to fill the legal gap in the interpretation of enforced disappearance within the Rome Statute.

Book review: laut bercerita, the sinking of untold tales

Leila S. Chudori or full Leila Salikha Chudori (born December 12, 1962) is an Indonesian writer who has written works such as short stories, novels, and television drama scenarios. A few notes about Leila who was selected to represent Indonesia to receive a scholarship to study at "Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific (United World Colleges)" in Victoria, Canada. Then, he continued to work as a journalist for the news magazine Tempo. She is also the winner of S.E.A. Write Award, is a tribute to writers and poets in Southeast Asia for her novel Laut Bercerita. It felt inspired by the kidnapping and enforced disappearance cases that occurred in 1998. In fact, before writing this novel, the writer conducted research interviews with one of the activists who had been kidnapped in 1998. Laut is the main character. Tells the story of a student activist during the New Order era, who was tortured and slaughtered to give testimony, then drowned along with a story that he had not had the chance to convey to Indonesia. Not only the advantages, this book also has disadvantages such as a slow storyline that tends to make the reader feel bored. Despite its flaws, this book has epic details, the characters in each character are built strongly, the events that really unfold, the deep meaning in each poem, and the selection of the right diction.

Evidence of Jorge

Jorge Soto Gallo disappeared on July 15, 1985, during a trip from Medellín to Bogotá in Colombia. Jorge is one of the thousands of disappeared people in Colombia whose families are still searching for answers, yet Jorge’s life and disappearance have been memorialized and recorded through his sister’s work of preserving, cultivating, and activating his personal archive. During recent decades, families of disappeared persons have begun to assemble folders that carry the evidence of disappearances. This article explores the personal archive of Jorge Soto Gallo with the aim of understanding a recordkeeping practice carried out by families and communities, which focuses on disappeared persons and often leads to a broad repertoire of political activism in defence of human rights. We ask, Which records are included, how are they brought together during these periods of upheaval, what do they mean, and what role do they play? We argue that creating and preserving these archives of enforced disappearance act as liberatory memory work (LMW) and as instincts of the families against forces of impunity and oblivion. We show that LMW is a living reality in Colombia that operates on a person-centred level, going beyond transitional justice frameworks, and turning victims into recordkeepers providing the possibility of historical accountability for future generations.

Suffering in silence: counter-productivity of Kenya’s ‘war on terror’ at the Kenya coast

This article examines the detrimental effects of Kenya’s wide-ranging policies, strategies and tactics of waging the war on terror at the Kenya coast. The ‘war’ is waged through police-related killings and enforced disappearances and is becoming counterproductive as it is contributing to a loss of citizenship rights for an increasing segment of the population. These grievances are rarely portrayed in the public sphere but continue to manifest in the suffering of families, livelihood losses, increased stigmatisation and, most importantly, through violation of the citizenship rights of widows and their orphaned children. Using interview data from the Kenya coast, the article attempts to shift beyond perceiving women and young people as perpetrators of violence to seeing them as silent victims of the war on terror. The article analyses these dynamics from community and civil society perspectives. It contributes to the emerging literature on women and violent extremism by examining the silent suffering of widows and their children, who often are neither seen nor heard.

Psychosocial impact of enforced disappearance. A vision of mothers searching for their loved one

Desaparición Forzada una realidad más frecuente en nuestra sociedad: las cifras refieren que en México hay 61, 637 personas desaparecidas para marzo de 2020. Pero lo más importante es considerar los mecanismos que son necesarios para la atención de aquellos familiares que buscan a su ser querido, principalmente las madres de desaparecidos, quienes se ven afectadas en el aspecto físico y psicológico. Objetivo: realizar un análisis del impacto psicosocial a partir de las emociones, pensamientos, afrontamiento y apoyo social en las madres de desaparecidos y su contribución en el proceso de búsqueda. Las participantes fueron diez madres de desaparecidos del Estado de Coahuila, México. Metodología: cualitativa Técnica de recolección de datos: una entrevista semiestructurada. Los datos cualitativos se sometieron a un análisis del discurso. Resultados: las emociones que denotan las participantes al inicio del proceso de búsqueda son muy específicas, luego se diversifican y se multiplican, se vuelven más intensas y afectan directamente dicho proceso. Los pensamientos, se centran principalmente en evasivas y negación ante los hechos de desaparición; el afrontamiento afecta directamente su vida cotidiana, sus hábitos y costumbres. El apoyo social percibido se enfoca en sus familias y en grupos o asociaciones que los asisten para llevar a cabo la búsqueda.

From Funnies to Adventures: Translation, Censorship, and Adaptation of American Comics in Fascist Italy

ABSTRACT: The development of modern Italian comics is intertwined with American culture. American funnies started to be published in Italian children's magazines at the beginning of the twentieth century and were adapted to the Italian tradition that saw comics as a means of education. It was only in the 1930s that comics became a form of entertainment, thanks to the publication of American adventure comics and Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse , which revolutionized the Italian comics landscape. However, the popularity of fumetti was challenged by the Fascist regime's restrictions and censorship, which specifically targeted American comics from 1938 and led to their forced disappearance in 1941. Despite the Fascist effort of creating a purely Italian popular culture—and comics—the success of American comics outlived the Fascist regime. This paper outlines the phases of modernization of Italian comics, paying particular attention to the impact of American comics and how they contributed to shape Italian comics in the Fascist era.

Um caminho sempre necessário na proteção dos direitos humanos: os pronunciamentos da Corte Interamericana em casos de pena de morte e desaparecimento forçado de pessoas

This article examines substantial aspects that, with the deployment of advisory and contentious functions by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, are sculpted within the Inter-American Human Rights System. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate, through the analysis of various pronouncements that essentially concern the death penalty, the forced disappearance of persons and its reparation phase, how the Inter-American Court has been delineating increasingly precise parameters in those matters that, by compelling States to comply with their regional obligations, contribute to greater protection of human rights. For this, we will focus this study from a quantitative perspective, which will allow us, through selected cases of the Inter-American Court, to arrive on its main conclusions.

Violation of Human Rights and Enforced Disappearance in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Every armed conflict outcome in a violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms. In areas where war conflicts are taking place, certain forms of crimes that are most often committed against civilians and other categories protected by international (humanitarian) law occur as an inevitable consequence. Thus, in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the war that took place in the period 1992-1995. committed numerous war crimes, and crimes against the peace and security of mankind. These crimes were committed against civilians and protected categories of the population, primarily prisoners of war. The issue of protection of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina is inevitably connected with the consideration of the consequences resulting from the armed aggression carried out at the end of the twentieth century. One form of crime that is particularly specific to Bosnia and Herzegovina is the crime of enforced disappearance. Enforced disappearances in Bosnia and Herzegovina are most often associated with the out-of-court detention of persons whose fate becomes unknown upon expulsion from their homes or stays in camps and other places of detention. This form of crime is especially significant because its consequences still last, even though 25 to 30 years have passed since its commission. Namely, the total number of registered forcibly missing persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina is 34,965. About 8,000 more people are wanted. Many families have not yet exercised their basic humanitarian right to know the truth about the fate of their family members. The bodies or remains of forcibly missing persons are most often found in unmarked individual or mass graves of a hidden locality. There are a numerous of forcibly missing persons who are still being searched for, and this is precisely the reason why studying the enforced disappearances of persons and considering the consequences of this committed crime is of special social interest. It is especially important to provide legal protection to families whose members were forcibly disappeared during the war and whose bodies or remains have not been found to date. The humane character of this issue must not be overlooked. It is important to find new possibilities in the search for forcibly missing persons, bearing in mind the fact that the passage of time and the biological processes that take place make it difficult to perform this task. Particular attention should be paid to the fact that witnesses or perpetrators of crimes who can provide adequate information end their lives. The truth about hidden bodies thus remains inaccessible. International bilateral agreements involving stakeholders represent one of the new possibilities in resolving issues related to enforced disappearances.