IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1231 

Calling for an end to enforced disappearances in Asia and around the world, 

and calling upon the United States to ratify the International Convention 

for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2020 

Mr. SHERMAN (for himself and Mr. RASKIN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Calling for an end to enforced disappearances in Asia and 

around the world, and calling upon the United States 

to ratify the International Convention for the Protection 

of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. 

Whereas enforced disappearances constitute grave human 

rights violations and are a crime under international law; 

Whereas the International Convention for the Protection of 

All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) 

was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 

December 20, 2006, and entered into force on December 

23, 2010; 


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Whereas Article 2 of the ICPPED defines enforced disappearance as ‘‘the arrest, detention, abduction or any 

other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State 

or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed 

by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or 

by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person’’; 

Whereas, since its creation in 1980, the United Nations 

Working Group on Involuntary Enforced Disappearances 

brought up 57,891 cases to the attention of 108 states, 

and 45,811 cases remain unresolved; 

Whereas the fate and whereabouts of hundreds of thousands 

of victims of enforced disappearances around the world 

continue to be unknown even decades after the end of 

conflict and repressive regimes; 

Whereas the failure to clarify the fate and whereabouts of 

those forcibly disappeared causes continuing pain and 

suffering to survivors and victims, and hinders societal 

reconciliation and justice; 

Whereas clarifying the fate of those who have been forcibly 

disappeared is an essential measure of transitional justice, alongside criminal accountability, truthtelling initiatives, and reparations, all of which assist societies in addressing legacies of mass atrocities, ensuring accountability, and preventing the recurrence of conflict and 

atrocities; 

Whereas under the International Convention on Disappearances, every victim has the right to know the truth regarding the circumstances of the enforced disappearance, 


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the progress and results of the investigation, and the fate 

of the disappeared person; 

Whereas relatives of victims of enforced disappearances and 

members of civil society often face reprisals for seeking 

information and justice, and such reprisals are often carried out under the pretext of security and counterterrorism measures; 

Whereas the United Nations Committee on the Elimination 

of Racial Discrimination was alarmed by the numerous 

reports about arbitrary detention of possibly a million 

Uyghurs and Muslim minorities; 

Whereas most Uyghur detainees are held without or on unknown charges in several facilities in the Xinjiang 

Uyghur Autonomous Region, and the whereabouts and 

physical condition of many remain unknown; 

Whereas with the passage into law of the Uyghur Human 

Rights Policy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–145), it is 

the policy of the United States to condemn the mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang and sanction those responsible for causing the disappearances of persons and 

the prolonged detention of those persons without charges 

and trial; 

Whereas according to Amnesty International, Sri Lanka is 

home to one of the world’s highest number of enforced 

disappearances, with somewhere between 60,000 to 

100,000 people allegedly disappeared since the late 

1980s; 

Whereas, during the 26-year civil war ending in 2009 between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of 

Tamil Eelam, tens of thousands of Tamils were forcibly 


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disappeared by the police, military, and paramilitary 

operatives; 

Whereas the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or 

Involuntary Disappearances stated in 2020 that the second-largest number of unresolved enforced disappearance 

cases in the world before the Working Group involves Sri 

Lanka, with the Working Group having transmitted communications to the Sri Lankan Government relating to 

over 12,700 disappearance cases, of which 6,117 were 

still outstanding, and that Sri Lankan state authorities, 

‘‘have not replied in regard to any cases’’; 

Whereas in 2016 the Sri Lankan Government acknowledged 

having received at least 65,000 complaints of enforced 

disappearances since 1995; 

Whereas Sri Lanka ratified the International Convention for 

the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in May 2016, and passed domestic legislation criminalizing enforced disappearances in March 2018; 

Whereas, according to a 2020 United Nations Special 

Rapporteur’s report, ‘‘no observable progress has been 

made on pending cases, including habeas corpus applications into the disappearance of Tamil Tigers and members of their families who surrendered during the final 

days of the war’’; 

Whereas, in January 2020, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa 

stated that ‘‘missing persons are actually dead’’, without 

providing any evidence; 

Whereas lawyers, human rights defenders, and victims involved in cases of enforced disappearances face intimidation, harassment, and violence from state and private actors, particularly since Rajapaksa became President; 


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Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka has promoted highranking military officials suspected of forcibly disappearing persons and bearing responsibility for war 

crimes, including Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva, 

and has failed to hold accountable other current military 

officials accused of war crimes; 

Whereas, since January 2020, the practice by the former government of issuing interim relief to families of the disappeared, as recommended by the Office on Missing Persons, was discontinued, putting families of disappeared 

persons under further financial strain; 

Whereas the Rajapaksa government has said it will no longer 

comply with the United Nations Human Rights Council 

Resolution 30/1, supported by the United States, committing Sri Lanka to truth, justice, and accountability for 

violations of human rights; 

Whereas Sri Lankan authorities are failing to effectively investigate and, where there is sufficient evidence, prosecute those suspected of perpetrating enforced disappearances, as recommended by the United Nations Working 

Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; 

Whereas Tamil families of the disappeared have demonstrated tremendous courage in conducting continuing 

protests, lasting over 1,300 days, to demand answers 

from the Sri Lankan state, despite being met with 

threats, intimidation, and harassment by state security 

forces; 

Whereas the Prevention of Terrorism Act, a law that has 

been misused to facilitate enforced disappearances, remains in use, despite the former government’s pledges to 

repeal it; 


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Whereas under the Government of former President Suharto, 

from 1967 to 1998, countless Indonesians were victims of 

enforced disappearances conducted by the military, police, 

intelligence agencies, and other state authorities; 

Whereas rather than investigate and hold those responsible 

for enforced disappearances to account, the Indonesian 

Government has appointed former generals allegedly involved in kidnappings and enforced disappearances to 

senior posts in the Defense Ministry; 

Whereas, during Indonesia’s occupation of East Timor from 

1975 to 1999, around 18,600 people were forcibly disappeared, as documented by the independent Commission 

for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) in its 

2005 report; 

Whereas, in 2010, Indonesia signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced 

Disappearance signaling its recognition of its obligation 

to investigate ongoing disappearances; however, it has yet 

to ratify the convention; 

Whereas the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or 

Involuntary Disappearances has received 1,144 cases of 

allegations of enforced disappearances from Pakistan between 1980 and 2019; 

Whereas, in 2011, Pakistan established the Commission of 

Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) to ‘‘trace 

the whereabouts of allegedly enforced disappeared persons’’ and ‘‘fix responsibility on individuals or organizations responsible’’; 

Whereas, since 2011, Pakistan’s COIED has received more 

than 5,290 reported cases of enforced disappearances 

carried out by state officials; 


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Whereas the majority of the victims of enforced disappearances in Pakistan are Baloch, Pashtun, or Sindhi; 

Whereas the Government of Pakistan has not adequately investigated and held perpetrators of enforced disappearances responsible; 

Whereas the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or 

Involuntary Disappearance has described a ‘‘culture of 

entrenched impunity’’ regarding the practice of enforced 

disappearances in Pakistan; 

Whereas the whereabouts and fate of over 2,000 victims of 

enforced disappearances of citizens (Sindhis) of Sindh 

Province, Pakistan, remain unsolved, including those of— 

(1) Aqib Chandio, 20, a student, abducted for the 

second time on July 7, 2020; 

(2) Gulam Rasul Shar and Bashir Ahmed Shar, 

brothers, abducted in Karachi on August 16, 2020; 

(3) Mehran Ali Mirani, 18, a student and shopkeeper, violently abducted in Hyderabad, Sindh, on January 13, 2020; and 

(4) Insaf Ali Dayo, a young tailor, abducted from 

his shop in Larkana, Sindh, by a group that included 

uniformed military personnel on May 29, 2017; 

Whereas disappeared people who have been released have received threats, or threats to their family members, to prevent them from recounting their experience to media or 

seeking justice; 

Whereas Amnesty International and other internationally recognized human rights organizations have called upon the 

Government of Pakistan to end enforced disappearances 

against all individuals, including Sindhis, and to either 

immediately release the victims of enforced disappearance 


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or ensure that they are brought promptly before a judge 

in a civilian court to rule on the lawfulness of their arrest 

or detention; and 

Whereas according to the United Nations, states have a duty 

to strengthen their efforts, with the support of international human rights mechanisms, to prevent enforced 

disappearances, to search for victims, and to increase assistance to victims and their relatives: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) calls for justice for victims of enforced dis3 appearances and accountability for those bearing re4 sponsibility for these crimes; 

5 (2) calls for United States law enforcement to 

6 use all available legal and statutory tools to ensure 

7 that alleged perpetrators of enforced disappearances 

8 are held accountable in United States courts and to 

9 ensure that the United States is not a safe haven for 

10 human rights violators; 

11 (3) urges all countries to abandon the unlawful 

12 practice of enforced disappearances; 

13 (4) calls upon the Department of State and the 

14 United States Agency for International Development 

15 to continue to support transitional justice measures 

16 and initiatives to assist victims and survivors of en17 forced disappearances, including by supporting naVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Nov 20, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1231.IH HR1231

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1 tional, international, and hybrid mechanisms to clar2 ify the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared; 

3 (5) urges the United States to sign and ratify 

4 the International Convention for the Protection of 

5 All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; 

6 (6) calls upon the Government of China to— 

7 (A) immediately release all persons held in 

8 arbitrary detention in Xinjiang, unless there is 

9 sufficient credible and admissible evidence that 

10 they have committed an internationally recog11 nized offense; 

12 (B) repeal or amend all laws and regula13 tions, and end all related measures, that 

14 impermissibly restrict the exercise of human 

15 rights by Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities; 

16 and 

17 (C) allow independent and unrestricted ac18 cess to Xinjiang for independent human rights 

19 monitors, and make the whereabouts and condi20 tion of all detainees known to their families; 

21 (7) calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka 

22 to— 

23 (A) carry out effective and independent in24 vestigations with a view of swiftly bringing to 


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1 justice those responsible for enforced disappear2 ances; 

3 (B) recommit the Government to com4 plying with the transitional justice goals and 

5 framework as articulated in the United Nations 

6 Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1, and 

7 implement measures to establish the transi8 tional justice mechanisms outlined in the reso9 lution; 

10 (C) end the threats and intimidation 

11 against families of the disappeared, journalists, 

12 human rights defenders, and lawyers engaged 

13 in cases of enforced disappearances; 

14 (D) consult with victims and families of 

15 the disappeared, release lists of those detained 

16 since 1978 under the Prevention of Terrorism 

17 Act, and investigate and release a list of all se18 cret detention centers; 

19 (E) resume the practice of issuing interim 

20 relief to families of the disappeared, as rec21 ommended by the Office on Missing Persons; 

22 (F) repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act 

23 and stop the misuse of laws, including the 

24 International Covenant on Civil and Political 


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1 Rights, to threaten, harass and prosecute dis2 senters, journalists and activists; and 

3 (G) work with the United States Govern4 ment to pursue those responsible for atrocity 

5 crimes and ensuring that the fate of all of those 

6 disappeared is determined; 

7 (8) calls upon the Government of Indonesia 

8 to— 

9 (A) fulfill the Government’s obligations 

10 under international law; 

11 (B) ensure that the military institution co12 operates with human rights and justice sector 

13 institutions, including the Human Rights Com14 mission; 

15 (C) establish ad hoc human rights courts 

16 for enforced disappearances in 1997–1998 and 

17 prosecute those responsible for enforced dis18 appearances and other atrocities in Indonesia; 

19 and 

20 (D) ratify the signed Convention for the 

21 Protection of All Persons from Enforced Dis22 appearance; and 

23 (9) calls upon the Government of Pakistan to— 


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1 (A) swiftly release all citizens of Pakistan 

2 who have been arbitrarily abducted and de3 tained; 

4 (B) condemn the enforced disappearance of 

5 Sindhis, of any religion or association, in Sindh 

6 Province; 

7 (C) work to ensure any actions taken in 

8 pursuit of legitimate security threats respect 

9 the human rights of all people and adhere to 

10 international human rights law; and 

11 (D) criminalize the practice of enforced 

12 disappearances. 

Æ 


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