International Day of the Disappeared
The International Day of the Disappeared (English International Day of the Disappeared ) is a August 30, committed annual Remembrance Day, to commemorate the fate of people who are detained against their will at a location and under conditions that their family members or their legal representatives are not known. The initiative for this Memorial Day goes back to the Federación Latinoamericana de Asociaciones de familiares de Detenidos - Desaparecidos ( FEDEFAM ), a company established in 1981 in Costa Rica and working in Latin America non-governmental organization and association of local and regional initiatives that are actively working against secret detention.
In particular, the for internationally in the field of humanitarian assistance and the protection of human rights operating authorities and organizations such as Amnesty International, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (English Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR) and the International Committee Red Cross ( ICRC) is the use for people who are affected by relevant practices, a focus of her work. The International Day of the Disappeared is thus a way to draw public attention to their work and to garner support through the work of volunteers and donations for these institutions.
The ICRC is due to its special international position and its strict neutrality practiced a special role in helping missing people and their families to. In some cases, the ICRC is the only institution that is granted by the responsible agencies access to certain prisoners. In this way, a minimum contact with this prisoner, and monitoring their treatment is thus possible, which may lead to termination of uncertainty as to their whereabouts in the sequence. News from the ICRC for affected families often the first indication of the fate of their relatives.
A secret or internment under conditions of uncertainty for the members is a violation of both human rights and, in the case of an armed conflict of international humanitarian law. The United Nations General Assembly decided on 18 December 1992 as part of the resolution 47/ 133, the "Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance " (English Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance ). It is estimated that in about 30 countries worldwide appropriate practices are widespread. The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances of the United Nations has registered about 46,000 cases of missing persons.