The Disappeared Children

 

By ShutUp! Media
with Torture Norway and togetherforhumanrights


On the occasion of the International Day for the victims of enforced disappearance, August 30th, it is important to take a break and in silence think about to what our fellow human beings are being subjected.

"Enforced disappearance has become a global problem, and is not limited to a particular region of the world." -United Nations

This means that people all over the world, are being brutally abducted from their families, by authorities or others acting with an authority's knowledge or consent. What we have understood as a problem that occurs only on the TV screen, and far away in a third world, has come across our thresholds.

The reality is that the abduction of individuals, carried out by authorities, have taken place in Norway for decades.

In Norway, an unknown number of children are living under inhumane conditions, forced into various institutions and foster homes, and denied contact with their families.
Many children are exposed to gross and systematic abuse in various forms, and even torture, regularly degraded by the authorities, lacking legal protection, and are in many cases denied schooling, private property -and a dignified life.

These children are deprived of their identity.

Their parents and other family members are denied contact with and information about their child, and are not informed about the whereabouts of the young family-member.

This can be termed as forced disappearance, which is characterized as the most cruel and utterly serious form of government abuse of power, hence criminal offenses under international law.
These actions have no statute of limitation , and those responsible, along with their helpers and supporters, may be prosecuted at any point during their lifetime.

A statute of limitation  is also omitted for the sake of the families who have been victims of enforced disappearance, in order for them to be able to obtain redress, information about what has happened to family members, and assistance to locate each other in order to reunite.

"On this international day, I urge all Member States to ratify or accede to the Convention without delay, and I call on the States parties to the Convention to implement it."
-United  Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon

Every case of forced disappearance should be reported to higher authorities.
As Norwegian politicians have avoided ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances is where a disappearance is reported.

The missing are reported using a form which can be downloaded from the homepage of the Working Group:
 

 

 

"Form two submit a communication on a victim of an enforced Disappearance" is available in English, French and Spanish.

The completed form is sent to:
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances c / o OHCHR-UNOG CH-1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland
Tel: (41-22) 917 90 00 Fax: (+ 41-22) 917 90 06
E-mail: wgeid@ohchr.org



Since the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court also mentions enforced disappearance, cases of forced disappearance can be reported to the International Criminal Court.

Contact:
Information and Evidence Unit
Office of the Prosecutor
Post Office Box 19519
2500 CM The Hague
The Netherlands
email: otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int,
facsimile to +31 70 515 8555.


More here:
 

 

 

 

 

 

"It is time for an end to all enforced disappearances.”
-United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon