Keynote: Transformative Justice: Receiving States’ Obligations in the Aftermath of Illegal Intercountry Adoptions as Enforced Disappearances

In September 2022, the UN issued a joint statement stressing that “illegal intercountry adoptions may violate the prohibition of the abduction, the sale of, or the traffic of children, and, under specific circumstances, may also violate the prohibition of enforced disappearances”. There is consensus as to the circumstances under which illegal intercountry adoptions constitute a form of sale in children or human trafficking. However, when can illegal intercountry adoptions be considered as enforced disappearances under the 2010 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and which implications does that have for the position and rights of the victims? Elvira Loibl addresses these questions in her presentation.