1. Introduction. 2. Enforced disappearances : a recurrent practice during the 20th Century. 3. Human rights treaties and the role of international jurisprudence. 3.1. The human rights committee. 3.2. The Inter-American Court of human rights. 3.3. The European Court of human rights and the human rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina. 4. International humanitarian law. 5. The need for international instruments against enforced disappearance. 5.1. The Inter-American convention on forced disappearance of persons. 5.2. The international convention for the protection of all persons from enforced disappearance. 6. Enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity. 7. Conclusion.