Editing Enforced disappearance (section)

=== General background ===
The crime of forced disappearance begins with the history of the rights stated in the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]], formulated on August 26, 1789, in France by the authorities that emerged from the [[French Revolution]], where it was already stated in Articles 7 and 12:

<blockquote>Art. 7. No person may be charged, detained, or imprisoned except in cases determined by the law and in the manner prescribed therein. Those requesting, facilitating, executing, or executing arbitrary orders must be punished...  
Art. 12. The guarantee of the rights of man and of the citizen needs a public force. This force is therefore instituted for the benefit of all, and not for the particular utility of those who are in charge of it.</blockquote>

Throughout the nineteenth century, along with the technological advancements applied to wars that led to increased mortality among combatants and damage to civilian populations, movements for humanitarian awareness in Western societies resulted in the founding of the first humanitarian organizations known as the [[Red Cross]] in 1859, and the first international typification of abuses and crimes<ref>United Nations Commission on Human Rights, E / CN.4 / 2002/71, 8 January 2002</ref> in the form of the 1864 Geneva Convention. In 1946, after the [[Second World War Hangar No. 7|Second World War]], the [[Nuremberg trials]] brought to public attention to the ''[[Nacht und Nebel]]'' decree, one of the most prominent antecedents of the crime of enforced disappearance. The trials included the testimony of 20 of those persons considered a threat to the security of [[Nazi Germany]] and whom the regime detained and condemned to death in the occupied territories of Europe. However, the executions were not carried out immediately; at one time, the people were deported to Germany and imprisoned at locations such as the [[Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp]], where they ended up disappearing and no information about their whereabouts and fate was given as per point III of the decree:<blockquote>III. …In case German or foreign authorities inquire about such prisoners, they are to be told that they were arrested, but that the proceedings do not allow any further information.<ref>Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, 8 vols. and 2 suppl. vols.VII, 873–874 (Doc. No. L-90) Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1946–1948.</ref></blockquote>

German Field Marshal [[Wilhelm Keitel]] was condemned in connection with his role in the application of the "NN decree" by Adolf Hitler, although, as it had not been accepted at the time that enforced disappearances were crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Tribunal in Nuremberg found him guilty of war crimes.<ref>E/CN.4/2002/71-page 37
</ref>

Since 1974, the [[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights]] and the [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]] have been the first international human rights bodies to react to the phenomenon of disappearances, following complaints made in connection with the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|Chilean military coup of September 11]], 1973.<ref>Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 1974 OEA / Ser.L / V / II.34, Doc.31, Rev.1, of 30 December 1974</ref> The report of the Working Group to Investigate the Situation of Human Rights in that country, which was submitted to the United Nations Commission on February 4, 1976, illustrated such a case for the first time, when [[:es:Alfonso Chanfreau|Alfonso Chanfreau]], of French origin, was arrested in July 1974 at his home in Santiago de Chile.

Earlier, in February 1975, the UN Commission on Human Rights had used the terms "persons unaccounted for" or "persons whose disappearance was not justified," in a resolution that dealt with the disappearances in Cyprus as a result of the armed conflict that resulted in the division of the island,<ref>Resolution 4 (XXXI) of the Commission on Human Rights of 13 February 1975</ref> as part of the two General Assembly resolutions adopted in December 1975 with respect to Cyprus and Chile.<ref>General Assembly resolution 3450 (XXX) of 9 December 1975. General Assembly resolution 3448 (XXX) of 9 December 1975.</ref>