GENEVA, Switzerland - The International Committee of the Red Cross issued a global call Thursday for more "political will" in tracking down people missing due to conflicts.
The ICRC issued the statement in Geneva marking Aug. 30 as the International Day of the Disappeared, with Director of Operations Pierre Krahenbuhl calling on all nations to sign onto the December 2006 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, a legally binding document that prohibits enforced disappearance.
"There are concrete measures that states and others can take to prevent such a tragedy from occurring in the first place," Krahenbuhl wrote in the report. "Often, what is lacking is the political will to tackle the problem."
The report gave examples of what the 2006 convention covers, including captured, abducted or arrested civilians, prisoners who die in custody or are held in secret locations and victims of mass executions buried in unmarked graves.
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