New interactive digital space documents enforced disappearances in South Asia

March 28, 2024

Amnesty International, in partnership with more than 20 organizations from South Asia, launched this Thursday the first phase of an interactive digital space entitled “Footprints – Virtual Museum on Enforced Disappearances in South Asia”. in South Asia), to highlight the stories of those who have been subject to enforced disappearances in the region.

“The new Virtual Museum on Enforced Disappearances in South Asia – Footprints – aims to document and improve understanding of the troubled past and volatile present of many South Asian countries. Enforced disappearances have left many families with unanswered questions and lifelong scars. In some countries, this heinous crime still persists and some state authorities have not fulfilled their promises of truth, justice and reparation to victims and their families. The interactive digital space aims to bring awareness to these stories of enforced disappearances in South Asia to enable a collective approach that holds governments accountable, challenges impunity and demands justice,” said Smriti Singh, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for South Asia.

“In this first phase, more than 40 stories from the region were highlighted and we will continue to add more stories in the run-up to the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances, in August this year”

Smriti Singh

The interactive digital space, available here, allows access to verified cases of missing persons in the region, including their stories, their families’ experiences in seeking justice and examples of reappeared and recurring disappearances.

South Asia has a terrible record when it comes to enforced disappearances, with some governments continuing the practice. While enforced disappearances are a long-standing problem in Sri Lanka and Nepal, they continue to be carried out by authorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Afghanistan. Enforced disappearances are an instrument of terror and a crime under international law with a devastating impact that affects not only individuals and their families, but also entire societies, leaving scars that are very difficult to heal.