Media advisories Special Procedures

Argentina: UN expert to make first official visit to check on unlawful deaths

11 November 2022

GENEVA (11 November 2022) – The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz, will be in Argentina from 14 to 25 November 2022 on the first official visit to the country since the mandate was created 40 years ago.

“Argentina has gone through an extraordinary transformation and is today often considered as an example for the efforts it has deployed to deal with the atrocities of the past,” the Special Rapporteur said. As well as learning about achievements and lessons in the process, the visit at the invitation of the Argentine Government will also help identify and overcome any challenges still faced for the effective prevention and investigation of all unlawful deaths, Tidball-Binz said.

The Special Rapporteur will examine measures to prevent and investigate all potentially unlawful deaths, including the excessive and disproportionate use of force in the context of law enforcement, the issue of deaths in custody, as well as the question of gender-based killings.

The expert will meet with authorities at the federal, provincial and city level and with other stakeholders, including from civil society and with victims and their families. He is expected to travel to Buenos Aires, La Plata, Córdoba, Corrientes and Resistencia.

Tidball-Binz will hold a press conference on 25 November 2022 at the Hotel EFE, salón ORO PB, Paraguay 474, Buenos Aires, at 11.30 am. Access will be strictly limited to accredited journalists. They should email: natalia.montagna@un.org to register.

The Special Rapporteur will submit a report including his findings and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council’s 53rd session in June 2023.

*Mr. Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions is a medical doctor specialized in forensic science, human rights and humanitarian action. He is currently an Adjunct Clinical Professor in Forensic Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Australia and a Visiting Professor of the Department of Forensic Medicine, Ethics and Medical Law, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Portugal and of the Department of Biomedical Health Sciences, University of Milano, Italy. Mr. Tidball-Binz previously worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), where he helped to establish and served as the first director of the Forensic Services and Unit. He also co-founded and directed the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, an organization that pioneered the application of scientific methods to investigate serious violations of human rights and crimes against humanity.

Special Rapporteurs 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 – Argentina

For more information and media requests, please contact: Mr. Alessandro Marra (+41 79 752 0481 / alessandro.marra@un.org) or write to hrc-sr-eje@un.org

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact Renato Rosario De Souza (renato.rosariodesouza@un.org) (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter: @UN_SPExperts.

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