World Marks Day of the Missing

Tens of thousands of people around the world are missing today because of armed conflicts or human rights abuses such as abductions and illegal arrests and detentions.



As it prepares to mark the International Day of the Disappeared on Thursday, the International Commission on Missing Persons urged governments to provide families with answers about the fates and whereabouts of their missing loved ones. Human rights groups called such disappearances a crime against humanity that must be stopped.



WHO IS A MISSING PERSON?



Individuals reported missing because of in-country or international armed conflicts, or disturbances that require action by a neutral and independent body. Also, people who have been taken into custody by officials who refuse to publicly acknowledge that or conceal the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared persons.



WHICH ARE THE MOST PROMINENT CASES?



*Argentina - 13,000 people missing



*Bosnia - 10,000 missing



*Cambodia - (1975-1979) 1.7m people where killed, the number still missing is unclear.



*Iraq - 15,000 people missing since 2003



*Koreas - 86,000 S/Koreans during the 1950-1953 Korean war (N/Korea has been held responsible for the disappearance)



Other countries include; Turkey, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, East Timor, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guatemala, Israel, Iran, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, Kosovo, Uganda and Western Sahara.



AP News & Miami Herald