"Disappearance", a form of state kidnapping, is a human rights violation inflicted not only upon the victims, but also upon their families. Not knowing whether the "disappeared" are dead or alive causes untold suffering to their relatives.

It has also been the source of some inspiring examples of women taking action to defend human rights.

In April 2001, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights agreed to begin work towards an International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.

One of the groups at the forefront of the campaign for this convention has been FEDEFAM, the Federation of Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared in Latin America, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.

The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, founded in 1977, was the first group set up by relatives of the disappeared. It is made up of women whose children and grandchildren have been victims of human rights violations.

During the years of military rule in Argentina, the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo campaigned actively in Argentina and abroad to clarify the whereabouts of those who had "disappeared".

Their work has continued in the search for truth and justice. Today FEDEFAM is made up of 17 associations representing 11 countries. The Federation's current priority is Colombia, where human rights defenders have to endure, on a daily basis, "disappearances", torture, killings and the displacement of the civilian population.

Threats and persecution against relatives of the detained, disappeared and human rights defenders continue in other countries including Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras.

In a recent case, Mara Alejandra Bonafini, the daughter of the President of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, was attacked and tortured in the house she shared with her mother.

Mothers of victims of human rights violations have also been active in Asia, Europe and Africa. China -The Tiananmen Mothers

In China, a network of family members of the victims led by Ding Zilin, a senior academic and mother whose 17-year-old son was killed on the night of 4 June 1989, have formed a group known as the "Tiananmen Mothers".

Since 1989, they have campaigned courageously for the Chinese authorities to institute a public inquiry and to grant compensation to the families of those killed or injured, working to gather details and providing support to each other, including distributing humanitarian funds to assist the injured and the families of the dead.

The group of mothers and relatives has compiled a list of 155 dead and 65 wounded giving the names and details of victims who range in age from nine to 61 years. Most were students aged 17 to 25.

Their campaign has included petitions to the Chinese Procurator General and requests for dialogue with the Chinese government. None of these requests has been granted. Instead the "Tiananmen Mothers" have faced short-term detention, harassment, discrimination and loss of earnings for their efforts.

Turkey -The Saturday Mothers

For three years from 1995 to 1998 relatives of people who "disappeared" in police custody in Turkey held a weekly vigil in central Istanbul, demanding that the authorities account for the fate of their loved ones.

They were known as the Saturday Mothers, since they gathered every Saturday at midday holding pictures of their "disappeared" sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers, brothers. Each time they met, a press announcement was read out detailing the case of one of the "disappeared", but otherwise the vigil was intended to be held in silence.

During the time that the vigils were held, the relatives encountered police harassment, ill-treatment, detention and prosecution.

Their plight attracted considerable attention in Turkey and internationally. Their courageous and determined stand helped turn back the wave of "disappearances" which reached a peak in 1994.

From May 1998, however, the Saturday Mothers faced heavy-handed police repression and were unable to continue their vigil.

Algeria -Still Bearing Witness

From August 1998, hundreds of relatives, especially mothers, began to regularly hold demonstrations in cities in Algeria demanding news of their missing loved ones -around 4,000 men and women who have "disappeared" in Algeria after being arrested by the security forces. Even though the protests have generally been allowed to take place, on a number of occasions in the last three years the security forces have broken up demonstrations by force.