FORCED DISAPPEARANCE: BÁMACA VELÁSQUEZ CASE

Abstract

Enforced disappearances - the arrest, detention, transfer against their will or otherwise deprivation of their liberty - occur in many countries and often on a persistent basis by government agents at any level or sector, by organised groups or by individuals acting on behalf of the government or with its direct or indirect support, authorisation or consent, and who then refuse to reveal the fate or whereabouts of such persons or to acknowledge that they are deprived of their liberty, thereby removing them from the protection of the law.

Enforced disappearances also strike at the deepest values ​​of any society that respects the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, and their systematic practice constitutes a crime against humanity.