The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances was established pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 20 (XXXVI). The mandate of the Working Group was most recently extended by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 45/3.

The mandate of the Working Group is to assist families of disappeared persons to ascertain the fate and whereabouts of their disappeared relatives, to assist States and monitor their compliance with their obligations deriving from the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and to provide States with assistance in the prevention and eradication of enforced disappearances.

Since its inception in 1980, the Working Group has transmitted a total of 59,600 cases to 112 States. The number of cases under active consideration that have not yet been clarified, closed or discontinued stands at 46,751 in a total of 97 States. During the reporting period, 104 cases were clarified.

The present report reflects the activities of and communications and cases examined by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances from 22 May 2021 to 13 May 2022.