Background

At its 125th session, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (hereinafter, ‘the Working Group’) announced its intention to conduct a thematic study on the issue of new technologies and enforced disappearances.

For the purposes of the study of the Working Group, the expression ‘new technologies’ is used in a broad sense, as to refer to technological innovations occurred mostly over the past 20 years, including hardware and software information and communication technologies (ICTs) – encompassing satellite imagery, digital social networks and online datasets –, the use of artificial intelligence and development of deep learning, as well as digital forensic and biodata.

Objective

The thematic study will be presented to the Human Rights Council in September 2023 and aims at assessing the applicable conceptual and legal framework (and, where applicable, the loopholes therein), existing challenges, lessons learned, as well as good practices and emerging opportunities concerning new technologies and enforced disappearances.

Key issues

The Working Group aims at studying how new technologies:
(a) are being used against relatives of disappeared persons, their representatives, human rights defenders and civil society organisations and which kind of protective strategies are – or can be put – in place;
(b) can be effectively applied to facilitate the search for disappeared persons, ensuring that their fate and whereabouts are established promptly and in a reliable and secure manner; and
(c) can be used to obtain evidence of the commission of enforced disappearance, especially bearing in mind that this international crime is by its own nature shrouded in secrecy and, as such, poses evidentiary obstacles to identify and bring to justice perpetrators.

Call for inputs

The Working Group would like to invite member States, as well as all interested stakeholders working on issues related to new technologies, as well as to enforced disappearance, including National Human Rights Institutions, intergovernmental organizations, regional human rights mechanisms, representatives of civil society organizations, technology corporations, experts and academics, to provide input for the preparation of the foreseen study. Inputs can be both country-specific or of a general nature and should contain information on the following subjects:

• Legislative framework (or lack of applicable provisions) – at the domestic and international level – relevant on the matter of “new technologies and enforced disappearances”.
• Concrete examples of how new technologies have or are being used in the contexts mentioned above under a), b) and c), including references to obstacles and challenges encountered.
• Good practices and lessons learned on how new technologies can be used to facilitate the search for disappeared persons and the investigation and collection of evidence for this specific crime.
• Reference to applicable new technologies (indicating the specific tools) that can facilitate the search for disappeared persons and the investigation and promotion of accountability for this crime.

To collect feedback and inputs from different stakeholders for the stocktaking exercise, the Working Group has drafted a questionnaire, which is available at OHCHR website in English (original language) as well as in French, and Spanish.

Please, do not hesitate to circulate this invitation widely in your network.
We look forward to reading your contributions soon!

How and where to submit inputs

Input/comments may be sent by e-mail and should be received by 3 February 2023.