"Disappearances" and Political Killings - A Manual for action

More than a million people in the past 25 years have been victims of 'disappearances' and extrajudicial executions-unlawful and deliberate killings cared out by order of a government or with its acquiescence. Many others have been deliberately and arbitrarily killed by armed opposition groups.

Well-known political figures have been publicly assassinated or made to 'disappear'; elsewhere whole villages gave been wiped out , and the news has not reached the outside world for weeks or months. Often the victims belonged to the political opposition-often they were simply members of a particular ethnic group or lived in an area where the whole population was targeted for security operations.

Amnesty International has launched a campaign to combat these abuses wherever they occur. This report is part of that campaign. It refers to “disappearances” and political killings in dozens of countries and includes background studies on countries ranging from Iraq and Colombia to Sri Lanka and Morocco. It describes the human rights standards developed at the United Nations and the attempts made to put those standards into practice. It presents a detailed program for the eradication of “disappearances” and political killings through prevention, investigation and bringing those responsible to justice.

This report will provide activists around the world with ideas and tools for the eradication of “disappearances” and political killings which will remain useful for years to come.

List of UN document numbers

Iraq: the world would not listen

Sri Lanka: disappearances and murder as techniques of counter-insurgency

Colombia: strategies for evading accountability

Zimbabwe: drawing a line through the past

Turkey: responses to an emerging pattern of extrajudicial executions

Morocco: the disappeared reappear

The anatomy of the atrocities

Disappearances and extrajudicial executions as violations of international human rights

Prevention

Investigation

Bringing the perpetrators to justice

Action through the United Nations and regional institutions

Deliberate and arbitrary killings by armed oppositions groups

International action