Submissions to the Committee on Enforced Disappearances
And the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances
Citizen Lab researchers have co-authored two submissions to the Committee on Enforced Disappearances and UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances.
One submission focuses on digital tools that enable disappearances, calling on host states to protect against rights violations caused by digital transnational repression. The authors argue that enforced disappearances have been facilitated by the use of targeted surveillance technology, and host states must anticipate and address the use of these tools.
The second submission is co-authored by Citizen Lab researchers, independent researcher Nate Schenkkan, and Yaqiu Wang from the University of Chicago. It tackles elements of the migration process that make individuals vulnerable to transnational repression. The authors highlight how inadequate resources, hostile policies, insufficient privacy safeguards, and data sharing agreements among states can contribute to rights violations against migrants.
While they focus on different factors that play a part in disappearances, both submissions emphasize the responsibility of host states to protect vulnerable populations and individuals from transnational repression.
