On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance

Maat… Iran continues to ignore the crisis of enforced disappearance

Aqeel: Iran is obligated under international law to disclose the fate of the forcibly disappeared

The whole world observes on August 30, the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance, which has become a global problem and is no longer restricted to a particular region of the world, which made the United Nations General Assembly express its concern in particular about the increase in cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances in different regions of the world. Among them is Iran, including arrest, detention and kidnapping. As Iran remains far from celebrating this day, the Iranian authorities are celebrating the consecration of this crime and the increase in the number of forcibly disappeared persons. Especially in light of its failure to join the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

This global occasion coincides with the continuation of the mullahs' regime in Iran - for more than 30 years - in failing to announce the fate of thousands of Iranian people who were secretly killed in the prison massacres in 1988, and whose families are still feeling deep pain and deep sorrow for their ignorance of their fate. The missing relatives and loved ones, the Iranian authorities did not return to the families any of the bodies of the victims of the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances that occurred in 1988, in addition to their refusal to inform most families of the place where the bodies were buried, which is a violation of international humanitarian law.

For his part, Ayman Aqil, head of the Maat Foundation, said that Iran is obligated under international law to investigate these crimes and reveal the facts about the victims and their fate. Aqeel added that those responsible for these violations should be held accountable and the families of the victims should be compensated. The head of Maat also called on the United Nations to conduct an independent investigation. In cases of enforced disappearance and extrajudicial executions, which have increased in Iran in recent years.

Finally, Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights denounces the state of international silence about the ongoing violations by the Iranian authorities, and takes the opportunity of the approaching universal periodic review of Iran's human rights record at the Human Rights Council in November 2019, and appeals to the member states of the United Nations to take advantage of this competition, to press The Iranian government should locate the mass graves and reveal the fate of all the victims of these tragic events.