UN experts on enforced disappearances to visit Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

Kyrgyz | Tajik

GENEVA (21 June 2019) – The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances will visit Kyrgyzstan between 25 - 30 June and Tajikistan between 30 June - 5 July.

The experts will gather information on the situation of enforced disappearance in the two States and study measures adopted to prevent and eradicate it, including issues related to legislation, practice and public policies in the areas of truth, justice and reparation.

The Working Group will meet State officials, relatives of people who may have disappeared, representatives of civil society organizations, relevant UN agencies, and other stakeholders.

The delegation – comprising of the Chair Mr. Bernard Duhaime and Mr. Henrikas Mickevicius – will visit Bishkek and Dushanbe with field visits to other parts of the countries.

At the end of each visit, the delegation will hold a news conference in Bishkek - on 28 June, at 14:00 local time at the AKI Press Information Agency, located at Moskovskaya Street 189 – and in Dushanbe on 5 July, at 11:30 local time at the 2nd United National premises located in 5/1 Lohuti Street. Access to the news conferences is strictly limited to journalists.

A final report on the visits will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in September 2020.

ENDS

The Working Group on enforced and involuntary disappearances is comprised of five independent experts from all regions around the world. The Chair-Rapporteur is Mr. Bernard Duhaime (Canada) and the Vice-Chair is Mr. Tae-Ung Baik (Republic of Korea); other members are Ms Houria Es-Slami (Morocco), Mr. Luciano Hazan (Argentina) and Mr. Henrikas Mickevicius (Lithuania).

The Working Group was established by the UN Commission on Human Rights in 1980 to assist families in determining the fate and whereabouts of disappeared relatives. It endeavours to establish a channel of communication between the families and the Governments concerned, to ensure that individual cases are investigated, with the objective of clarifying the whereabouts of people who, having disappeared, are placed outside the protection of the law. In view of the Working Group’s humanitarian mandate, clarification occurs when the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person is clearly established. The Working Group continues to address cases of disappearances until they are resolved. It also provides assistance in the implementation by States of the United Nations Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

The Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, Country Page – Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

For more information and media requests:

In Geneva (before and after the visit): Ugo Cedrangolo (+41 22 917 9286 - ucedrangolo@ohchr.org)
In Bishkek (during the visit): Kieran O Reilly (+996 770 111 674) – koreilly@ohchr.org
In Dushanbe (during the visit): Suhrob Shoev (+992 44 600-55-40) - sshoev@ohchr.org

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts: Jeremy Laurence – Media Unit (+41 22 917 9383 / jlaurence@ohchr.org)