Enforced disappearance is one of the most horrific crimes of our time. This is a crime that causes excruciating suffering to its victims: the disappeared and their families and relatives. Thousands of people have suffered, and are still suffering, all over the world from enforced disappearances. To combat this scourge, a United Nations Convention was adopted in 2006 and entered into force in 2010. It adopted a definition of enforced disappearance that includes an important element: the direct or indirect involvement of the State Party in the commission of the enforced disappearance. Yet, private entities (commonly referred to as non-State actors) can also commit acts similar to enforced disappearances. However, in the absence of the element of the State Party’s involvement, can we go so far as to qualify the acts perpetrated by non-State actors as enforced disappearances? This question has generated and continues to generate an interesting debate.
