Enforced Disappearance in International Law

This book explores the international legal framework governing the crime and human rights violation of enforced disappearance. It includes a thorough analysis and comparison of the existing international human rights case law and an assessment of the rules of international humanitarian law and international criminal law applicable to enforced disappearance. The study includes a meticulous review, comparison, and analysis of the case law of international criminal tribunals, the Human Rights Committee, the Inter-American and European Courts of Human Rights, and the African Commission on Human and People's Rights. It contains a comparison of the jurisprudence on cases of enforced disappearance with regard to the different aspects of: the right to liberty and security, the right to life, the prohibition of torture, the right to be recognized as a person before the law, the right to the truth, and the right to privacy and family life. In addition, the book reviews the rules that apply to enforced disappearance under international humanitarian law and determines the principles applicable for individual responsibility for the crime of enforced disappearance under international criminal law. On the basis of this analysis, the author interprets and evaluates the provisions of the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance in the international legal framework. The book provides a useful tool for the interpretation of the International Convention, identifies the gaps and inconsistencies contained in the text of the Convention, and suggests possible solutions. In addition, it explores how the entering into force of the International Convention may affect the case law of the existing international judicial bodies. This comprehensive and multi-disciplinary description of the current international legal framework and its influence on the International Convention is likely to become a standard work as it closes a gap in existing legal literature.