International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances

Across armed conflicts around the world, people continue to go missing or disappear, leaving families without answers about the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones. Under both international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL), parties to conflict have an obligation to search for the missing, identify remains, and inform families accordingly. Enforced disappearance is a grave violation that – when committed systematically – may amount to a crime against humanity. 

In Syria, the IHL Centre has worked extensively with families of missing persons, victims' associations and civil society actors to support efforts to establish the fate and whereabouts of missing relatives. This has included legal analysis, technical expertise and capacity development, as well as support for mechanisms capable of fulfilling families' right to know, including the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria. The Centre's work has also highlighted the importance of protecting mass graves and burial sites, both to help determine the fate of missing people and to preserve evidence relevant to accountability. Our 2024 publication on Missing Persons in Situations of Armed Conflict covers the obligations and protections provided by international law concerning missing persons, emphasizing the right of families to know the fate of their loved ones, recognized as crucial in mitigating the suffering of families affected by armed conflict. Furthermore, the brief examines the prohibition of enforced disappearance under both IHL and IHRL.

In Sudan, the Centre has also raised concern over reports of civilians captured or missing while fleeing violence in El Fasher in late 2025, highlighting the profound protection consequences when the fate and whereabouts of people affected by armed conflict are unknown.  

In Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, the IHL Centre has similarly examined the relationship between detention practices and the prohibition of enforced disappearance. Two years ago on this date, the IHL Centre released its publication “Unlawful Incarceration: Legal Analysis of Israel's Military Detention Regimeâ€, produced in cooperation with the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI).

This legal brief demonstrates that the legal framework Israel has been relying on to detain thousands of Palestinians from Gaza since October 2023, including the so-called “Unlawful Combatants Lawâ€, falls far short of applicable IHL and IHRL standards on the permissible grounds for detention, procedural safeguards, as well as international oversight and contact with the outside world, including ICRC visits. This creates an environment that is conducive towards torture, inhumane treatment, and violations of the prohibition of enforced disappearances.

Two years on, the analysis sadly remains highly relevant. According to data collected by HaMoked, as of 2 August 2026, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) was holding over 9,300 Palestinians from across the occupied Palestinian territory – the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza – of which more than 1,300 were being detained pursuant to the Unlawful Combatants Law. Human rights organisations report that as of June 2026, the IPS was holding over 300 Palestinian minors, including in administrative detention, without charge or trial. It is unclear how many Palestinians are still being held by the Israeli military in detention camps like Sde Teiman. Israel is also still detaining dozens of doctors and medical staff, such as Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the former director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. Systematic abuse and ill-treatment of detainees, inhumane detention conditions, as well as deprivation of oversight and contact with the outside world have been extensively documented across all places of detention.

Israel must end all unlawful deprivations of liberty and enforced disappearances, ensure that persons it detains are not subjected to acts of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, authorise ICRC visits to detainees, ensure adequate conditions of detention, and hold the suspected perpetrators of international crimes accountable.