The case of enforced disappearance of Laishram Kamalbabu, who has been missing since November 25, 2024, was brought to international attention by Amnesty International during the 1st World Congress on Enforced Disappearances held in Geneva from January 15 to 16, 2025.
According to a statement issued on January 17, 2025 by Babloo Loitongbam, Executive Director of Human Rights Alert (HRA), the exhibition featured a poignant still photograph of Kamalbabu’s study table. The image shows a calculator atop a diary, notebooks, and files, symbolizing the anguish of his family, their uncertainty about his fate, and their yearning for justice. The photograph was contributed by the Families of the Involuntarily Disappeareds’ Association, Manipur (FIDAM), and the Manipur International Youth Centre (MIYC).
The 1st World Congress on Enforced Disappearances aimed to create an opportunity for concrete and ambitious commitments to eradicate enforced disappearance everywhere in the world, putting victims’ voices and rights at the core of the strategy was held in Geneva from 15 to 16 January 2025.
Babloo Loitongbam, Executive Director of Human Rights Alert (HRA) attended the Congress along with hundreds of civil society organizations, including associations of families, States, international bodies and experts from 120 counties in-person and virtually to dialogue, knowledge exchange, and the strengthening of international cooperation. They engage in panel discussions and workshops focused on identifying solutions, sharing best practices, and amplifying the voices of those directly affected by enforced disappearances.
The Congress was co-organized by CEDI, which is a multi-actor initiative aimed at contributing to the fight against enforced disappearances by promoting the universal ratification and effective implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED), the United Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Ms. Nada Al-Nashif, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, delivering a compelling keynote address urged all participants “to join forces, share knowledge and lessons, and strengthen cooperation and political commitment to tackle this dreadful crime.
It may be noted that India has signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance in 2007, but it has not ratified it till date, the statement added.
