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Take Action: International Day of the Disappeared

AUGUST 30 IS THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE DISAPPEARED. 

Victims of enforced disappearance are people who have literally disappeared, from their loved ones and their community. They go missing when state officials (or someone acting with state consent) forcibly takes them and denies it, or refuses to say where they are. 

FOCUS CASES

Twinsimage-1.jpg
(Private)

China: Imamhesen and Imamhusen Memetrasul

In 2016, 11-year-old twin brothers Imamhesen and Imamhusen Memetrasul and their mother Nurmangul Ebey were detained in Kargilik in Xinjiang, a region where one million or more predominantly Muslim people have been detained.
Ciham Ali Ahmed
(Private)

Eritrea: Ciham Ali

Ciham, an Eritrean and US national, has been secretly detained since 2012, and despite being a citizen, the US government has not intervened in her case.
Rania Alabbasi with her children and her husband, Abdulrahman Yasin
(Private)

Syria: Rania Al Abbas

Syrian authorities arrested Rania al-Abbasi, her husband Abdulrahman Yasin, and their six children, aged 3 to 15, in March 2013 without giving a reason. They have been missing ever since.
05_Cameroon 130+ Missing Men and Boys
(Fahad Hashmi / Amnesty International)

Cameroon: 130+ Men and Boys

Ten years after the disappearance of over 130 men and boys in Cameroon, their families still seek truth and justice.
Protest for Ayotzinapa third anniversary
(Itzel Plascencia López / Amnesty International Mexico)

Mexico: 43 Ayotzinapa students

Forty-three students were arbitrarily arrested by local police in the Mexican city of Iguala, Guerrero state in September 2014, and their whereabouts remain unknown.
Prageeth Eknaligoda
(Private)

Sri Lanka: Prageeth Eknaligoda:

Journalist/cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda went missing two days after he published an article critical of then-President Rajapaksa in 2010. 
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(Private)

IOPT: Surgeon

On March 24, 2024, the Israeli military detained Palestinian Dr. Khaled Al Serr from Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in Gaza and has been held in conditions amounting to enforced disappearance. 
missing journalists
(Private)

IOPT: Journalists

Israeli forces detained journalists Nidal al-Waheidi and Haitham Abdelwahed from the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2024, while they were reporting the Hamas-led attack. 
The Case of Rania Al-Abbasi

Rania al-Abbasi, her husband Abdulrahman Yasin and their six children, aged between 3 and 15, were arrested by the Syrian authorities in March 2013. They have been missing ever since, victims of enforced disappearance.

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