On 21 December 2010, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 65/209, welcoming the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and deciding to declare 30 August the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, observed beginning in 2011. Enforced disappearance refers to the arrest, detention or abduction of a person by state agents or with state consent, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or concealment of the person's fate. The day matters because enforced disappearance is among the gravest human rights violations, leaving victims' families in prolonged pain and uncertainty, unable to learn their loved ones' fate or grieve in the normal way. It has historically been used as a tool of political repression in conflicts and under various regimes worldwide, and continues to be practiced today in multiple conflict zones. The day is marked through solidarity vigils involving families of the missing, campaigns urging governments to disclose the fate of the disappeared and hold those responsible accountable, and documentation initiatives that gather evidence and preserve victims' memory.