No more missing persons: the criminalization of enforced disappearance in South Asia

This report analyzes States’ obligations under international law to ensure acts of enforced disappearance constitute a distinct, autonomous offence under national law. It also provides an overview of the practice of enforced disappearance, focusing specifically on the status of the criminalization of the practice, in five South Asian countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
After setting the international standards pertaining to enforced disappearance, the report will briefly examine: the national political and human rights context; the existing legal framework; national jurisprudence and the role of the courts; and the status of each government’s commitment to uphold its international obligations and its responses to relevant recommendations from UN bodies.