UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that enforced disappearances of people by states constitute an unacceptable violation of human rights and the time has come for the end to this abhorrent practice.

“Enforced disappearance is a practice that cannot be tolerated in the 21st century,” Mr Ban said in a message to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

“This abhorrent practice places people outside the protection of the law and thus, potentially in great danger of physical violence and sometimes barbaric execution. In addition to causing unimaginable worry and anguish for the victims and their loved ones, this creates a generalised climate of fear and terror across entire societies,” he said.

Mr Ban noted that enforced disappearance was once employed mainly by military dictatorships.

“Increasingly, it has become a tool of many states around the world, some operating under counter-terror strategies, or fighting organised crime, and others seeking to quash dissent and human rights activism.

“On this solemn Day, I reiterate in the strongest possible terms that under international law, no-one should be kept in secret detention. Any person deprived of his or her liberty must be held safely in officially recognised and supervised locations that observe the rule of law.”

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2014