Jurisprudence Database
The Jurisprudence Database sets out leading judgments and commentary by international and domestic legal mechanisms in the field of enforced disappearances. It summarises factual and legal findings and identifies common themes and search terms allowing for a comparative cross-jurisdictional analysis of this area of law. 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.
Filter by Show Filters
Country
Case Decision Year
Keywords
Key Judgment
Types of Source
Authority
Themes
El-Masri v. Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)
The Court reiterated that torture does not only cover the infliction of physical pain but also includes mental suffering caused by creating a state of anguish and stress by means other than bodily assault, highlighting the fact that the victim’s prolonged confinement created in him a permanent state of vulnerability and anxiety owing to the uncertainty about his fate. In line with its previous case law, the Court held that the victim was subjected to “extraordinary rendition”, meaning an extrajudicial transfer of persons from one State to another for the purposes of detention and interrogation outside the legal system, which ...click to read more
Reparations | Obligation to Prevent | Deprivation of Liberty | Judicial Protection | State/Non-State Agents | Effective Remedy | Duty to Investigate | Duty to Prosecute | Extraterritorial Jurisdiction
García and Family Members v. Guatemala
The Court recalled that the State has a special position of guarantor of the rights of those detained - as such, the deprivation of liberty in legally-recognised centres and the existence of detainee records represent essential safeguards, including against enforced disappearance. The Court recognised that where violations of the rights to life, personal integrity or liberty are intended to prevent the legitimate exercise of another right protected by the Convention, such as freedom of association and expression (as in this case), there is also an autonomous violation of that other right. As a reparation measure, the Court ordered the state to promote ...click to read more
Reparations | Obligation to Prevent | Deprivation of Liberty
Reynaldo Bignone et al. (“Hospital Posadas”)
The Court found proof that the surveillance group set up in the clandestine detention centre was subordinate to a task force of the Air Force which was created for the purposes of the “fight against subversion”. The Court held that the secluded house within the premises of the hospital used by the surveillance group was sufficient to carry out the kidnappings and torture. It dismissed the defence’s argument that the absence of special training or preparation showed that the accused were not part of the State apparatus. The Court found one of the accused responsible for the events because he ...click to read more
Amnesties | Statute of Limitations | Crimes Against Humanity | Deprivation of Liberty | Jus Cogens | Guarantees Against Impunity | Punishment
General Comment on children and enforced disappearances
The General Comment elaborates on the obligations of Member States in cases of child victims of enforced disappearance. There are three situations in which a child becomes a victim of enforced disappearance: children who are themselves victims of enforced disappearance, children who were born during the captivity of a mother subjected to enforced disappearance, and children whose parent(s), legal guardian or relative were subjected to enforced disappearance. The enforced disappearance of children implies particular vulnerability and thus represents an extreme form of violence against children which violate multiple rights concomitantly.
Right to Know the Truth | Effective Remedy | Children/Youth | Refugees and Migrants | Economic/Social/Cultural Rights | Relatives as Victims
General Comment on women affected by enforced disappearances
The General Comment explains the realisation of the Declaration's provisions through gender lenses. It notes that the suffering of women affected by enforced disappearances is twofold - as relatives of men who have been disappeared, and as victims themselves. The latter implies various forms of gender-based violence. The Comment emphasises states' obligation to integrate a gender approach in all measures, including legislative, administrative, and judicial.
Economic/Social/Cultural Rights | Relatives as Victims | Right to Know the Truth | Effective Remedy | Children/Youth
Río Negro Massacres v. Guatemala
The Court indicated that the massacres that occurred during the internal armed conflict in Guatemala added to the displacement of the members of the community of Río Negro. Their resettlement in the Pacux settlement, in precarious conditions, led to the destruction of their social structure, the disintegration of families, and the loss of their cultural and traditional practices, and the Maya Achí language. The Court noted that the community members could not perform their funeral rituals because the State had not located or identified most of the remains of the persons allegedly killed during the massacres, and 17 people remained ...click to read more
Children/Youth | Indigenous Peoples | Systemic Practice | Relatives as Victims | Duty to Prosecute | Reparations
Khaled Il Khwildy v. Libya
The Committee made a finding of inhuman treatment in relation to the enforced disappearance of the victim, due to the fact that he was held in secret and incommunicado detention, tortured and prevented from any contact with family, legal counsel, or the outside world. It also made such a finding in relation to the brother, noting the anguish and distress caused by the victim's disappearance. The Committee also found a violation of the victim's right to liberty and security, as he was arrested without a warrant, held in incommunicado detention without access to defence, without being informed of the grounds ...click to read more
Deprivation of Liberty | Evidence | Judicial Protection | Juridical Personality | Refusal to Disclose Fate | Relatives as Victims | Effective Remedy | Burden of Proof
Kadirova and Others v. Russia
Confirming that when factual elements lie within the exclusive knowledge of the authorities the burden of proof is shifted to the State to provide explanations, the Court was satisfied that the victims were arrested by servicemen during a security operation. It also added that, in the context of the conflict in the Chechen Republic, unacknowledged detention by unidentified servicemen can be regarded as life-threatening, concluding that the victims must be presumed dead following their detention by servicemen, and that liability for their presumed deaths was attributable to the State. The Court also made a finding of inhuman treatment with respect ...click to read more
Burden of Proof | Deprivation of Liberty | Evidence | Relatives as Victims | Right to Know the Truth | State/Non-State Agents | Women and Girls | Effective Remedy | Duty to Investigate
Gudiel Álvarez et al. (“Diario Militar”) v. Guatemala
The Court noted that, as part of the State’s counterinsurgency policy, enforced disappearances were intended to disrupt movements or organisations identified by the State as favourable to the “insurgency” and to instil fear in the population. The Court established that in cases of enforced disappearance where there are indications that the victim may be deceased, the confirmation of whether this has in fact occurred, and thus the cessation of the disappearance, necessarily entails the recovery of the remains and the establishment of the identity of the person to whom they belong, through an expert examination by a competent professional. The ...click to read more
Children/Youth | Indigenous Peoples | Women and Girls | Right to Know the Truth | Duty to Investigate
Aboufaied v. Libya
The Committee made a finding of inhuman treatment with respect to both of the victims, due to the fact that they had been kept in captivity for a prolonged period and prevented from communicating with their family and the outside world, as well as on account of the fact that one of them was subjected to torture. The Committee made a finding of inhuman treatment with respect to their brother as well, noting the anguish and distress caused by the victims' disappearance. It also found a violation of the victims' right to liberty and security, as they were arrested without ...click to read more
Deprivation of Liberty | Evidence | Judicial Protection | Juridical Personality | Refusal to Disclose Fate | Relatives as Victims | Effective Remedy | Burden of Proof