Related Resources
Excuses for the Truth view details >>
Types of measures
Only a few States in the world have yet adopted national legislation that criminalises disappearances as specific criminal offence.
Besides criminalising the offense of enforced disappearances, other types of measures can also be very efficient. These can be other penal, civil or administrative measures.
Dependent on the current political and security situation these measures can be equally or more meaningful than the adoption of legislation making disappearances a criminal offense. It could be worthwhile appealing to governments for these kind of measures.
Examples of other measures
- Legislation declaring non applicability of statutes of limitations for disappearances
- Prison monitoring boards inspecting penal institutions at every time they wish
- Special prosecutors dealing exclusively with crimes of enforced disappearances
- Constitutional safeguards preventing disappearances during a state of emergency. For instance the prohibition of suspension of habeas corpus.
- Legislation prohibiting modification of state records containing information on missing persons
- Recognition of the right to information, right to truth and truth trials
- National Register of disappeared persons;
- National Committee responsible for the search of disappeared persons, including an emergency search mechanism;
- National Genetic Databank to identify missing persons
- Information on alleged disappeared persons (names and physical description) is circulated within security forced and police.
- National memory archive containing the testimonies of disappearances.
- Legislation of financial compensation or reparation to victims of disappearances
- National Monuments for the disappeared.
- National Health Programme focusing of victims of disappearances.
For more specific information about Domestic Measures go to State Obligations.