AUGUST 30 IS THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE DISAPPEARED.
Victims of enforced disappearance are people who have literally disappeared, from their loved ones and their community. They go missing when state officials (or someone acting with state consent) forcibly takes them and denies it, or refuses to say where they are.
FOCUS CASES
China: Imamhesen and Imamhusen Memetrasul
In 2016, 11-year-old twin brothers Imamhesen and Imamhusen Memetrasul and their mother Nurmangul Ebey were detained in Kargilik in Xinjiang, a region where one million or more predominantly Muslim people have been detained.
Eritrea: Ciham Ali
Ciham, an Eritrean and US national, has been secretly detained since 2012, and despite being a citizen, the US government has not intervened in her case.
Syria: Rania Al Abbas
Syrian authorities arrested Rania al-Abbasi, her husband Abdulrahman Yasin, and their six children, aged 3 to 15, in March 2013 without giving a reason. They have been missing ever since.
Cameroon: 130+ Men and Boys
Ten years after the disappearance of over 130 men and boys in Cameroon, their families still seek truth and justice.
Mexico: 43 Ayotzinapa students
Forty-three students were arbitrarily arrested by local police in the Mexican city of Iguala, Guerrero state in September 2014, and their whereabouts remain unknown.
Sri Lanka: Prageeth Eknaligoda:
Journalist/cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda went missing two days after he published an article critical of then-President Rajapaksa in 2010.
IOPT: Surgeon
On March 24, 2024, the Israeli military detained Palestinian Dr. Khaled Al Serr from Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in Gaza and has been held in conditions amounting to enforced disappearance.
IOPT: Journalists
Israeli forces detained journalists Nidal al-Waheidi and Haitham Abdelwahed from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2024, while they were reporting the Hamas-led attack.
Rania al-Abbasi, her husband Abdulrahman Yasin and their six children, aged between 3 and 15, were arrested by the Syrian authorities in March 2013. They have been missing ever since, victims of enforced disappearance.
GET MORE INVOLVED
Mobilize your community on social media
Spread the word and engage others online. Use #DayofDisappeared in your posts.
Join AIUSA’s Regional and Thematic Action Networks
Join AIUSA Regional and Thematic Coordination Group Action Network.
Read our blog
Read “Honoring an Invisible Struggle: International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.”
Resource library
- Deadly but Preventable Attacks: Killings and enforced disappearances of those who defend human rights (Report)
- International Day of the Disappeared 2010 (Video)
- Write for Rights 2021- Eritrea: Ciham Ali (Video)
- The 130 Disappeared- Cameroon: 130+ Men and Boys (Video)
- Die “Verschwundenen” von Ayotzinapa- Mexico: 43 Students (Video)
- Disappearances in Mexico- Mexico: 43 Students (Video)
- Uyghur Families Separated From Their Children
- Photos from Photo Action for Disappeared Journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda