OUVRAGE : A. La Vaccara, When the Conflict Ends, While Uncertainty Continues: Accounting for Missing Persons between War and Peace in International Law

Alessandra LA VACCARA

During an armed conflict and in its aftermath, measures must be undertaken in order to ascertain the fate of the missing and to address the emotional distress of families from the lack of news on their relatives. In the same contextual settings, cases of missing persons may involve criminal accountability, thereby triggering actions directed to answer questions like "who is responsible?" and "what are the circumstances of the crime?". These courses of action respond to two different needs, i.e., the need of families to know the fate and whereabouts of their missing relatives, and the societal and individual need for accountability.