The right to know the fate of a relative is a fundamental concern of international humanitarian law and human rights law and must be respected. The legal obligations are laid out in particular in the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, along with the new International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2006. International law is clear: it is illegal to make people disappear, and next-of-kin must be informed about captured, wounded or deceased relatives without delay. The challenge remains to ensure that States adopt and implement these long-standing rules.