Analysis of the iCRC database demonstrates that when the state adopts laws relating to missing and enforced disappearances, they do not always differentiate between the two legal frameworks, exemplifying the convergence of obligations derived from IHL and international human rights law. The laws under review do not address “missing persons” as all those who have disappeared in connection with an armed conflict (the IHL treaty law approach) or all those who have been reported missing (the ICRC approach). When they are legible in the case of armed conflicts, states select certain time frames, which may lead to discrimination or exclusion of missing persons, depending on the time frame of the authority.
