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; Whereas Article 2 of the ICPPED defines enforced disappearance 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 authorization, 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 disappeared 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 justice, alongside criminal accountability, truthtelling initiatives, and reparations, all of which assist societies in addressing legacies of mass atrocities, ensuring accountability, and preventing the recurrence of conflict and atrocities; Whereas under the International Convention on Disappearances, every victim has the right to know the truth regarding the circumstances of the enforced disappearance, the progress and results of the investigation, and the fate of the disappeared person