The protection of the missing and the dead under international law

The missing and the dead are protected under international law. In particular, in situations of international and non‐international armed conflicts, the missing and the dead are protected under international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL). This chapter presents a general overview of the relevant IHL and IHRL rules that protect the missing and the dead, as intermingled topics – a failure to treat and identify the dead in a proper manner may significantly increase the number of missing persons in a given context. It is important to note that the obligations under IHL pertaining to the protection of the missing and the dead are obligations that continue to apply after an armed conflict has ended. The role that the International Committee of the Red Cross has played in favor of the missing, the dead and their families could be taken into consideration when designing responses.