Currently there are more than 80,000 cases of forced disappearances in Syria since 2011, almost 100,000 in Sri Lanka since 1980, more than 6,000 Kosovo since 1999 and thousands more in many other countries. 

To honor victims of enforced disappearances all over the world, the HRI for peace and freedom communicates the importance of addressing this issue which constitutes a grave violation to several Human Rights. 

Enforced disappearances are composed by two main factors. First of all, we need to understand that it is currently a global problem. Dictatorial and authoritarian regimes all over the world practice enforced disappearances. Secondly, it is a strategy for different ends. Most common it has been used by regimes to propagate terror inside the civil society within their respective regions. The fundamental use of enforced disappearance is political repression against different forms of opposition. In most of the cases, the main targets are activists, human rights defenders or overall protestors to the regime and their close ones. 

There are currently several resources such as international instruments in order to fight against the issue, the most visible one being the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance,established in 2007. 

Even though the international community has established mechanisms, the issue persists and increments in countries governed by authoritarian regimes. The case of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi which occurred almost a year ago has the particularity of being an oversees abduction. It is a perfect example of the continuing and improvement of such illicit practices by regimes all over the world. There are thousands of cases such in which protestors of the regimes are abducted, tortured and many times killed by regime officials. 

Inside the Sakharov network, there are many cases of people who have suffered of enforced disappearances. Currently Razan Zaitouneh has been missing for 5 years and suspected to be dead. As well, in May of 2019, being the most recent case, the Vice President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Edgar Zambrano, was abducted by regime officials and secretly taken to a military prison. There was no information provided by the Maduro Regime of his medical condition and whereabouts for many days. 

The HRI for Peace and Freedom condemns the practice of enforced disappearance in every part of the world and will litigate, promote and monitor acts of activism in the pursuit of peace, freedom, democracy and rule of law. In parallel the Institute calls the international community and more specifically the United Nations to promote sanctions against the perpetrators of these acts.