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 resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in ad-
dition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions 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 dis-
appearance 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 au-
thorization, 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 dis-
appeared 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 jus-
tice, alongside criminal accountability, truthtelling initia-
tives, and reparations, all of which assist societies in ad-
dressing legacies of mass atrocities, ensuring account-
ability, and preventing the recurrence of conflict and 
atrocities; 
Whereas under the International Convention on Disappear-
ances, every victim has the right to know the truth re-
garding 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 car-
ried out under the pretext of security and counterter-
rorism 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 un-
known 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 ar-
bitrary detention of Uyghurs and members of other Mus-
lim minority groups in Xinjiang and sanction those re-
sponsible 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 be-
tween 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 sec-
ond-largest number of unresolved enforced disappearance 
cases in the world before the Working Group involves Sri 
Lanka, with the Working Group having transmitted com-
munications 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 Disappear-
ance in May 2016, and passed domestic legislation crim-
inalizing 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 applica-
tions into the disappearance of Tamil Tigers and mem-
bers 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 in-
volved in cases of enforced disappearances face intimida-
tion, harassment, and violence from state and private ac-
tors, particularly since Rajapaksa became President; 
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Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka has promoted high- 
ranking military officials suspected of forcibly dis-
appearing 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 gov-
ernment of issuing interim relief to families of the dis-
appeared, as recommended by the Office on Missing Per-
sons, 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, commit-
ting Sri Lanka to truth, justice, and accountability for 
violations of human rights; 
Whereas Sri Lankan authorities are failing to effectively in-
vestigate and, where there is sufficient evidence, pros-
ecute those suspected of perpetrating enforced disappear-
ances, as recommended by the United Nations Working 
Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; 
Whereas Tamil families of the disappeared have dem-
onstrated 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, re-
mains 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 in-
volved 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 dis-
appeared, as documented by the independent Commission 
for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) in its 
2005 report; 
Whereas, in 2010, Indonesia signed the International Con-
vention 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 be-
tween 1980 and 2019; 
Whereas, in 2011, Pakistan established the Commission of 
Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) to ‘‘trace 
the whereabouts of allegedly enforced disappeared per-
sons’’ and ‘‘fix responsibility on individuals or organiza-
tions 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 disappear-
ances in Pakistan are Baloch, Pashtun, or Sindhi; 
Whereas the Government of Pakistan has not adequately in-
vestigated and held perpetrators of enforced disappear-
ances 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 shop-
keeper, violently abducted in Hyderabad, Sindh, on Janu-
ary 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 re-
ceived threats, or threats to their family members, to pre-
vent them from recounting their experience to media or 
seeking justice; 
Whereas Amnesty International and other internationally rec-
ognized 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 inter-
national human rights mechanisms, to prevent enforced 
disappearances, to search for victims, and to increase as-
sistance to victims and their relatives: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) calls for justice for victims of enforced dis-
appearances and accountability for those bearing re-
sponsibility for these crimes; 
(2) calls for United States law enforcement to 
use all available legal and statutory tools to ensure 
that alleged perpetrators of enforced disappearances 
are held accountable in United States courts and to 
ensure that the United States is not a safe haven for 
human rights violators; 
(3) urges all countries to abandon the unlawful 
practice of enforced disappearances; 
(4) calls upon the Department of State and the 
United States Agency for International Development 
to continue to support transitional justice measures 
and initiatives to assist victims and survivors of en-
forced disappearances, including by supporting na-
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tional, international, and hybrid mechanisms to clar-
ify the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared; 
(5) urges the United States to sign and ratify 
the International Convention for the Protection of 
All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; 
(6) calls upon the Government of China to— 
(A) immediately release all persons held in 
arbitrary detention in Xinjiang, unless there is 
sufficient credible and admissible evidence that 
they have committed an internationally recog-
nized offense; 
(B) repeal or amend all laws and regula-
tions, and end all related measures, that 
impermissibly restrict the exercise of human 
rights by Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities; 
and 
(C) allow independent and unrestricted ac-
cess to Xinjiang for independent human rights 
monitors, and make the whereabouts and condi-
tion of all detainees known to their families; 
(7) calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka 
to— 
(A) carry out effective and independent in-
vestigations with a view of swiftly bringing to 
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justice those responsible for enforced disappear-
ances; 
(B) recommit the Government to com-
plying with the transitional justice goals and 
framework as articulated in the United Nations 
Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1, and 
implement measures to establish the transi-
tional justice mechanisms outlined in the reso-
lution; 
(C) end the threats and intimidation 
against families of the disappeared, journalists, 
human rights defenders, and lawyers engaged 
in cases of enforced disappearances; 
(D) consult with victims and families of 
the disappeared, release lists of those detained 
since 1978 under the Prevention of Terrorism 
Act, and investigate and release a list of all se-
cret detention centers; 
(E) resume the practice of issuing interim 
relief to families of the disappeared, as rec-
ommended by the Office on Missing Persons; 
(F) repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act 
and stop the misuse of laws, including the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political 
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Rights, to threaten, harass and prosecute dis-
senters, journalists and activists; and 
(G) work with the United States Govern-
ment to pursue those responsible for atrocity 
crimes and ensuring that the fate of all of those 
disappeared is determined; 
(8) calls upon the Government of Indonesia 
to— 
(A) fulfill the Government’s obligations 
under international law; 
(B) ensure that the military institution co-
operates with human rights and justice sector 
institutions, including the Human Rights Com-
mission; 
(C) establish ad hoc human rights courts 
for enforced disappearances in 1997–1998 and 
prosecute those responsible for enforced dis-
appearances and other atrocities in Indonesia; 
and 
(D) ratify the signed Convention for the 
Protection of All Persons from Enforced Dis-
appearance; and 
(9) calls upon the Government of Pakistan to— 
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(A) swiftly release all citizens of Pakistan 
who have been arbitrarily abducted and de-
tained; 
(B) condemn the enforced disappearance of 
Sindhis, of any religion or association, in Sindh 
Province; 
(C) work to ensure any actions taken in 
pursuit of legitimate security threats respect 
the human rights of all people and adhere to 
international human rights law; and 
(D) criminalize the practice of enforced 
disappearances. 
Æ 
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