Domestic Mechanisms Database
The Domestic Mechanisms Database includes mechanisms from around the world that have been put in place at national levels to address the crime of enforced disappearances. It includes criminal, constitutional and civil legislation, truth and reconciliation bodies, search and forensic mechanisms, reparation among other domestic frameworks. Users can search the source bank through a filter-based or key-term search and access text in English, Spanish, Russian and French.
Search the PDF content in documents uploaded to the Enforced Disappearance Legal Database.
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National Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Rettig Commission)
The Commission was created to investigate the situation of persons who were disappeared or were executed during the military dictatorship. It was active between April 1990 and February 1991. It was tasked with gathering evidence that could support the identification of the fate of disappeared victims and establish a complete picture of the atrocities; recommending reparations and legal and administrative measures to ensure non-repetition. In February 1991, the Commission issued a final report on the basis of the evidence gathered, and presented it to the President of the Republic and the general public.
Keywords: Guarantees of non-repetition
Law on Missing and Forcibly Disappeared Persons
The Law sets recognises the rights of relatives of disappeared victims to know their fate; establishes a Commission tasked with determining the fate of victims and organises the process for exhuming mass graves. The law also adopts a definition of missing and disappeared persons.
Keywords: Search | Penalties | Sanctions and mitigations | Compensation | Forensics / DNA
Law on cooperation with the International Criminal Court on matters of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity
The Law defines enforced disappearance as follows: "whoever in any way and for any reason, being an agent of the State or, without being an agent, with the authorisation, support or acquiescence of agents of the State, deprives a person of their liberty, followed by the refusal to report the deprivation of liberty or the whereabouts or fate of the person; or whoever omits and refuses to provide information about the deprivation of liberty of a missing person, their whereabouts or fate". The Law defines even an isolated incident as a crime against humanity. The crime of enforced disappearance is defined as a permanent crime until the fate or whereabouts of the victim are established.
Keywords: Crimes against humanity | Criminal offence of enforced disappearance | Non-derogation | Penalties | Sanctions and mitigations | Statute of limitations