Understanding Forced Disappearances in Africa

Forced disappearances are perhaps the most horrific representation of state power across the continent of Africa: a way by which people are forcibly taken away or detained and the state deliberately states nothing is happening by ignoring the person and denying where they are or their fate. This crime not only creates terrible suffering to individual people but can in turn cause people within societies to experience a breakdown in trust.

What is a forced disappearance?

A forced disappearance occurs when a person is detained by government officials or other officials acting with state consent, and the state deliberately chooses not to acknowledge the person’s detention, location or fate. This absence constitutes a form of violence unlike other forms of violence – it is a violence that denies existence.

International law, including the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, recognizes this as a serious offense and qualifies it as a crime against humanity in cases when it is widespread or systematic. Many African countries have yet to fully ratify or enforce these protections.

Identifying the Patterns Across Africa

Forced disappearances are not confined to one corner of Africa; they have happened in the East, West, North, and Southern Africa.

In Kenya, nationwide protests against a controversial finance bill in June 2024 left dozens of young people unaccounted for. Allegedly, state security forces abducted at least 70 protesters, with at least 26 still unaccounted for (as of April 2025). Among this group was Emmanuel Mukuria, a 24-year-old bus driver, who disappeared during a protest and has never been seen since. The family has searched for him, but authorities gave them conflicting information. Mukuria's case was reported in a Washington Post article.

In Mali, a group of UN experts called on national authorities to investigate the forced disappearance and probable execution of roughly 60 ethnic Fulani men. It is suggested that Malian troops with the backing of Wagner private military group troops (close to Russia) detained and tortured these individuals. Their remains were later found in a search near Kwala military camp, so public demand for investigations has accelerated, owing to fears surrounding war crimes, according to the Associated Press.

Likewise, in Egypt, rights defenders and activists were subjected to similar patterns of repression. For example, Ezzat Ghoneim is a lawyer and activist who went missing in March 2018, somehow after a court supposedly released him (according to the court ruling), the authorities informed his family he was liberated while he was still locked up, according to a 2019 Human Rights Watch report. Marwa Arafa, a translator and child rights advocate, was also detained seeing no warrant in April 2020 and was held out of contact for two weeks according to Wikipedia.

In Zimbabwe, journalist and activist Itai Dzamara disappeared in March 2015 and asked to join the occupy-type protests in Harare, when he vanished a number of his people. Despite court orders and international pressure, Dzamara's disappearance remains unresolved as noted by Wikipedia.

Why Forced Disappearances Matter for Governance and Democracy

Forced disappearances strike at the heart of democracy and governance. They signal that the rule of law has been replaced with impunity. A state that disappears its own citizens cannot claim legitimacy, no matter its rhetoric about security or stability. For young Africans striving to shape democratic futures, these abuses represent a direct threat to the vision of accountable leadership.

• There is trauma beyond loss: Families undergoing ambiguous loss may experience trauma that extends beyond the actual loss—such as no confirmation of being alive or dead, no closure, and, often, intense psychological, emotional, social, and financial pain.

• Democratic Backsliding: These disappearances demonstrate a failure in law and due process. Accountability is then delayed by decision-makers seeking to predictably systematically marginalize. Individuals and societies cannot put their faith in the government to be trustworthy.

• Threat to Justice: These crimes typically avoid scrutiny and mitigate legal protections. The victims and their families face barriers such as denial, state secrecy and inertia.

Developing Paths to Accountability

• Strengthen National Laws: Ratify, implement and abide by various treaties and protocols, and domestic laws that adequately address forced disappearances, e.g. Convention on Enforced Disappearances ( UN).

• Promoting independent mechanisms: It is essential to have robust, independent, and impartial investigative bodies and oversight agencies; families should be encouraged to document everything and advocate for the disappeared persons with these institutions, encouraging and enabling civil society organizations to assist victims’ families.

• Heightened transparency: Journalists, digital activists, and civic tech can all exert pressure on the multitude of forced disappearances that exist in the shadows, and create an opportunity for the community to hold the accountable parties first accountable.

Most importantly, change requires political will. Leaders must recognize that transparency and justice are not weaknesses but strengths that underpin long-term stability.

Final Reflections

Forced disappearances are not arbitrary. It is a deliberate mechanism of silence, oblivion, and fear designed by those in power who cannot accept other people challenging them. Shedding light on these cases, to apply pressure for justice and remembrance of the deceased, is vital to the moral and democratic impact of whatever we will see in the future.