General Comment on the definition of enforced disappearance

Key Judgment

Legal Relevance

Keywords: State/Non-State Agents

Themes: Characteristics of the Crime

In its effort to define enforced disappearance, the Working Group paid attention to definitions provided by other international human rights instruments. The General Comment notes that enforced disappearance must be distinguished from other types of offences such as abduction and kidnapping and therefore the Working Group considers only cases related to acts of enforced disappearance. Such acts might be initiated by a legal detention or arrest followed by an extrajudicial execution without disclosure of the whereabouts of the person.