Jordyn Arndt
ECOSOC Advisor
U.S. Mission to the United Nations
New York, New York
October 19, 2020
AS DELIVERED
Enforced disappearances violate victims’ human rights and cause devastating uncertainty to their families and their society. The United States urges all governments to protect the rights detained individuals are entitled to under domestic and international laws, and to immediately disclose the whereabouts or fate of disappeared persons.
The United States is gravely concerned that the Iranian government has continued a widespread pattern of enforced disappearances of Iranian citizens, including during the protests of November 2019.
The United States remains concerned about enforced disappearances in Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. Russian occupation authorities have not only failed to investigate dozens of reports of enforced disappearances of Crimean Tatars and Ukrainian activists, but have threatened and intimidated those who tried to report such disappearances.
The United States continues to be concerned that over 100,000 Syrians remain missing as a result of the Assad regime’s barbaric campaign of enforced disappearances and, to a lesser degree, the activities of ISIS and other armed groups.
The United States urges Member States to encourage all countries to immediately search for and account for the whereabouts or fates of those detained or disappeared, and to provide them and their families with an effective remedy.
Question: Mr. Chair, what further steps can the international community take to encourage governments to respond promptly and fully to reports of enforced disappearances?
Thank you.
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