Enforced Disappearance

By Dr. Inas Mohamed Ahmed

International law did not initially classify enforced disappearance as a crime. At first, it was merely recognized as a serious phenomenon. As its prevalence grew, however, it was criminalized and eventually defined as an offense subject to legal penalties.

Scholars of international law have not pinpointed an exact date for the emergence of enforced disappearance as a crime. Yet legal consensus attributes its origins to Adolf Hitler, who on December 7, 1941, during World War II, issued a decree known as the “Night and Fog” order. The decree authorized the arrest, transfer, and secret detention of individuals deemed a threat to German security in occupied territories, while banning any information about their fate—deliberately instilling fear and terror. The practice later spread globally, particularly in Latin America, becoming more brutal and widespread.

French jurist Louis Joinet, a legal expert who served on the UN Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and drafted the first text criminalizing enforced disappearance in 1988, famously described it as a “crime in suspended time” or a “continuous crime”—because it persists as long as the victim remains secretly detained.

Unable to combat enforced disappearance through national laws alone, states turned for decades to regional protocols and customary international law. Eventually, the United Nations took up the cause, declaring it an international crime and a crime against humanity that all states must combat.

As a result, in 1992 the UN adopted the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which prohibited the practice even under exceptional circumstances such as wartime.

In 1994, the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons was adopted—the first and only regional treaty on the issue—after the crime became rampant across the Americas.

In 2001, the UN Human Rights Commission formed a working group to draft a binding international treaty. The effort culminated in the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted on December 20, 2006, and entering into force on December 23, 2010.

The 2006 Convention remains one of the strongest international instruments, as it defined enforced disappearance, outlined the legal measures states must adopt in response, and emphasized justice, dignity, and legal protections for victims and their families.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court also listed enforced disappearance among crimes subject to prosecution, underscoring the gravity of the offense.

International law addresses enforced disappearance through three overlapping branches: international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law. All converge on one principle: criminalizing the act and ensuring perpetrators face fair trials without impunity.

For example, Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights allows states to derogate from certain human rights obligations during exceptional crises. Yet the 2006 Convention established a crucial principle: no exceptional circumstance or urgent measure can ever justify enforced disappearance.

The treaty also enshrined the principle of individual criminal responsibility. States cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to enforced disappearance under any circumstance.

At the national level, Sudan acceded to the 2006 Convention in 2021, after the transitional Sovereignty Council and Cabinet ratified membership. In the current war, however, the paramilitary militia has weaponized enforced disappearance against civilians, detaining thousands in secret facilities, denying families any information, transferring detainees when retreating, and deliberately concealing their fate—whether alive or dead. Information about these detention sites comes only from survivors who managed to escape.

The impact of this crime extends far beyond victims to their families. According to preliminary figures by the International Committee of the Red Cross, thousands of men, women, and children—entirely civilians—have been subjected to enforced disappearance.

This crime will remain documented against the paramilitary militia, and demands for the release of the disappeared will not cease. Testimonies of survivors must continue to be recorded in the media and beyond—both as a moral and legal imperative to safeguard victims’ rights, prevent impunity, and bring perpetrators to justice. The international community must also activate enforcement mechanisms and formally designate the militia as a terrorist organization.

I hope Sudan’s Prime Minister, Dr. Kamal Idris, will include the crime of enforced disappearance among the files he presents at the ongoing UN General Assembly in New York. This is especially important given Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks at the opening of the 80th session on September 23, 2025, when he said: “Civilians in Sudan are being slaughtered, starved, and silenced. Impunity is the foundation of chaos and has given rise to the gravest conflicts.”

The ball is now in the UN’s court. It must act decisively and score a truly humanitarian goal for justice and humanity.